HODL is crypto slang for holding on to your crypto for the long term, through rises and falls, instead of selling. People who do it are sometimes called hodlers. HODL is often said to stand for "hold on for dear life", but that explanation came later.
Where does the word come from?
The word was born on 18 December 2013 on the Bitcointalk forum. The price of bitcoin had been falling fast. A user posted a message titled "I AM HODLING", with a typo in the word holding, and said they had no plans to sell. The post quickly became a joke, and then a term.
What does it involve?
HODL is based on the idea that timing the market is hard. Instead of trying to buy low and sell high, you hold the asset for years. Many people combine it with dollar-cost averagingDollar-cost averaging (DCA)Buying the same amount at regular intervals, for example monthly, instead of investing everything at once..
It can test your patience. In a bear marketBear marketA long period when market prices mostly fall and investors are pessimistic. the price can fall by more than half and stay low for a long time. Bitcoin has recovered from several deep falls in the past, though some recoveries took years, and that is no guarantee for the future. Many smaller coins have never regained their old price, and some have disappeared altogether.
If you plan to hold crypto for a long time, where you keep it matters too. Learn the difference between a CustodianCustodianA company that holds crypto and the keys to it on behalf of customers, such as a licensed crypto exchange. and Self-custodySelf-custodyHolding the private keys to your crypto in your own wallet, so nobody else controls it but all the responsibility for the keys is yours..
Everything in Myntkaup Learn is written and regularly reviewed by the Myntkaup editorial team. It is for education and is not investment advice. Editorial policy. Updated 18 October 2026.