Bankrate does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it provide individualized recommendations or personalized investment advice. Investment decisions should be based on an evaluation of your own personal financial situation, needs, risk tolerance and investment objectives. Cryptocurrencies continue to gain more attention as an investment opportunity due to the remarkable breakouts in 2017 and 2020. The trend of financial decentralization and currency digitalization provides room for growth to cryptocurrencies.

  • NerdWallet, Inc. is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor.
  • The misspelling set off a frenzy in the online world of crypto investors and the term quickly became a meme.
  • Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy.
  • HODLing requires a long time horizon, so it’s usually best for investors that don’t need access to their cash for a long time.
  • HODLing is based on the idea that, historically speaking, the market will ultimately trend upward.
  • To make sense of such crypto-slang, CNBC Make It asked Peter Saddington, a serial entrepreneur and early bitcoin investor who runs a bitcoin community called The Bitcoin Pub, to break it down.

Due to their highly volatile nature, cryptocurrencies provide great opportunities for traders to build up long and short positions frequently. However, “hodling” can provide more safety to investors, as investors are not exposed to short-term volatility and can avoid the risk of buying high but selling low. This typo quickly caught on within the forum and then spread across the wider crypto community. Since then, it has been adopted by crypto traders and investors as an acronym for ‘Hold On for Dear Life,’ representing a steadfast approach to holding cryptocurrencies amidst market fluctuations. If you’re curious about making HODL a part of your portfolio, we can help you get started. DYdX’s exchange offers dozens of advanced trading features for crypto traders, including fee-free perpetuals.

Dive deeper into crypto trading with dYdX

HODL helps connect people in the Web3 ecosystem and encourages the crypto community to focus on the positive aspects of blockchain technology. The HODL memes bring levity to stressful situations, and the phrase inspires fellow investors to stay strong when markets decline. All in all, the shared struggles and triumphs of HODLing create a sense of camaraderie among crypto traders. When the markets are unstable, HODLing can be a strategy to consider.

  • The right time to sell will largely depend on the goals of investing.
  • As a result, hodlers are theoretically safe from some trading tendencies, be it buying at a high price or selling at a low price (the latter is also known as “SODL” – a less commonly used term derived from “HODL”).
  • Buy-and-hold investing occurs when individuals purchase an asset—often stock—and hold it for a period of many years.
  • After all, we know that cryptocurrency doesn’t have the same proven track record that the stock market has.

The HODL strategy has since its origin been used as a community anthem used whenever the price of a digital asset has been rallying. The idea is to discourage selling at the top, which could possibly trigger a reversal of the asset’s price. Some say you should HODL until your coin is worth a sum that you’re happy with and then sell and take the profits. However, there’s always a chance that prices may continue to rise after you’ve sold and you may end up regretting your decision to not wait longer.

What Does HODL Mean? How a Typo Became a Crypto Meme

Therefore, traders interested in crypto need to carefully understand what they’re investing in with crypto. The legendary volatility of cryptocurrency is due to the fact that it’s driven entirely by sentiment, since no hard assets or cash flow back cryptocurrencies (with the exception of stablecoins). Many crypto coins, maybe even most of the 10,000 or so in existence, may end up worthless. It’s worth noting that ‘market timing’ — the act of trying to predict future price movements — is notoriously difficult and risky, even for seasoned investors. Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, designed it as a medium of exchange and a store of value, suggesting a long-term use case. Therefore, many investors view any time as a good time to HODL as long as it aligns with their personal investment strategies and risk tolerance.

But these phrases have extended beyond crypto to other assets, such as stocks. During the run-up in the stocks of GameStop and AMC in 2021, individual traders rallied around the phrases, egging each other on to continue to hold or even buy more on the dips. The exact origin of HODL is well established, and the context surrounding it offers a good lesson to cryptocurrency traders and those who would like to get started trading crypto. Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first.

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With cryptocurrency, Morrison says, the importance of patience is even higher. The volatility is more extreme, but the long-term gains have been quite appealing. A marketplace for cryptocurrencies where users can buy and sell coins.

  • Given how volatile swings are when it comes to cryptocoins, the need to make a decision on HODLING occurs more frequently than with traditional stocks.
  • Value investors such as Warren Buffett use this strategy when investing whereby they identify undervalued companies, buy the stocks cheap and hold them for several years.
  • Generally speaking, we recommend owning stocks for at least five years.
  • While we adhere to strict
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    this post may contain references to products from our partners.

But investors who were spooked into selling their BTC in past downturns have lived to regret those decisions. Crypto pump and dump is an investment scheme in which instigators buy large positions Hexn in low-cap (market capitalization) coins or tokens before shilling these assets to other investors. The intention is to create an artificial price increase leading to a substantial profit.

“HODL,” one of the most frequently used terms in the cryptocurrency world, originated years ago from a typo.

There are HODL memes, HODL forums, and even HODL T-shirts, but the term is more than a punchline. In fact, it’s synonymous with a popular—and powerful—passive investment approach. Oftentimes, other investors will suggest HODLing as a solution to FUD. If you’re looking for ways to shape your investing strategy, Public Premium features can help.

  • Learn where the term came from and why it’s a useful approach for amateur traders.
  • This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page.
  • We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site.
  • The term is, however, used to describe huge losses, and even though ‘huge’ is considered a relative term, losing a lot of coins qualifies as being rekt.
  • It’s a healthy part of a sensible cryptocurrency investing strategy when combined with serious research into the quality and long-term prospects of your cryptocurrencies.

The HODL token operates using the Binance Smart Chain, and HODL token owners can earn Binance Coin rewards. At the same time, Bitcoiners use HODL as a form of encouragement during crypto winters, literally reminding each other to HODL onto their bags. There are several more words that we did not cover in this guide but we are sure you will run into as you interact with other community members. Be observant, keen, and keep an open mind when interacting with other enthusiasts in chat forums and on social media.

Can you HODL stocks?

Its articles, interactive tools and other content are provided to you for free, as self-help tools and for informational purposes only. NerdWallet does not and cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information in regard to your individual circumstances. Examples are hypothetical, and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific investment issues. Our estimates are based on past market performance, and past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. HODL means holding on to an investment position no matter how volatile the price action gets.

Why “HODL” Cryptocurrencies

Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The fall was possibly a result of a ban of third-party payment companies from working with Bitcoin exchanges from China’s central bank (People’s Bank of China). The author loaded the post with typos and upper cases to express his firmness in his simple holding strategy. This Article does not offer the purchase or sale of any financial instruments or related services.

What Is The Best Coin To HODL?

They’re holding for the long-term and looking to build life-changing wealth. You only sell in a bear market if you are a good day trader or an illusioned noob. In a zero-sum game such as this, traders can only take your money if you sell. Bitcoin has only been around since 2009, giving it a limited long-term track record compared with stocks, bonds, real estate and other assets. Others have argued that the stubbornness and close-mindedness of HODL culture is “cult-like,” blinding the community to any legitimate criticisms of Bitcoin as an investment or a currency. There’s no question the HODL strategy has paid off well for GameKyuubi and other Bitcoin investors that have held onto their crypto investments.

Want more content? Check out these articles!

You can also participate in staking rewards with many cryptos, allowing you to generate income while you continue to hold the digital asset and potentially ride it to new heights. However, it’s worth noting that being named ‘HODL’ doesn’t necessarily make it a valuable or safe investment. Like with any other cryptocurrency, the decision to buy and hold HODL tokens should come after careful research. Yes, there is a cryptocurrency called HODL (Hodl Hodl) with an eponymous ticker (HODL). At its core lies the idea of rewarding holders for not selling their tokens, thus providing an incentive for the ‘HODL’ strategy. It’s a fun nod to the term and its origins in the crypto ecosystem.

The utility of HODLing, like any investment strategy, has its limits. Even a long-term cryptocurrency investor would be well-served to articulate clear goals and to monitor the emerging space for systemic risks. The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments. There is no difference between HODLing a cryptocurrency and a buy-and-hold strategy. You can HODL a stock through its volatility because you believe in the company’s future success.

The Ultimate Guide To Keeping Your Crypto Secure

As the project rises in popularity and utility, the value of the project’s token also rises. Continue reading to learn more about how it came to be, why it is considered an investment strategy, and other words that you may want to be acquainted with if you wish to be a part of the community. The first step for a beginner in the blockchain ecosystem is to find out where all the important conversations happen, including social media platforms and chat forums. Next, you should learn the terminology, and part of that is identifying the unique terms and phrases used by members of the community, what they mean and how to use them effectively. If a « whale » sells a lot of their stake, it can cause the price of a cryptocurrency to dip by flooding supply, he explains.

It is a rallying cry by the blockchain community encouraging the weak hands to hold on to their positions whenever the price rises to stratospheric heights or starts plummeting down to earth. Lamborghini supercars have, for a long time, been used as status symbols by wealthy crypto investors, especially those that can attribute a bulk of their wealth to blockchain-related activities. For instance, if the asset is in the middle of a bear market, there will be fewer buyers than there are sellers. For big investors, a falling market might not offer the right conditions to sell. They have to wait for buyers to come in to absorb their large orders.

Is there a HODL cryptocurrency?

While it looks like an acronym – one of those terms like FBI or KFC that abbreviates a word into its initials – HODL is simply a misspelling of the word hold, albeit one that caught on for the silliness of its mistake. Bankrate follows a strict
editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions.

While it’s still unclear if HODLing will pay off for crypto investments, it’s historically been a go to approach for stock traders who want to invest in a bear market. The goal of HODLing is to wait out recessions and other dips in the market, with the goal of cashing out when the market improves. Many long-term HODLers take the examples of successful gains as a validation of a strategy that at times can border on zealotry. In online forums devoted to cryptocurrency, users can be shunned for liquidating part of their holdings even after significant long-term gains. HODL is a term derived from a misspelling of « hold, » in the context of buying and holding Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.