I just realized that many newcomers to crypto often get confused about the concepts of hodl and hold coin. Actually, they mean the same thing—both refer to holding onto a coin without selling right away even when the market is dropping.

Hold coin is basically a long-term investment strategy. You find an altcoin with potential, buy it, then decide to hold it for 1-2 years or longer until it reaches your target price. During that time, no matter how much the price falls, you don’t sell—that’s hold coin. By contrast, trading is buying and selling in the short term, even just for a few minutes when you spot a profit.

The name “hodl” has a pretty funny backstory. In 2013, a Bitcointalk member named GameKyuubi posted a thread titled “I AM HODLING” (an intentional misspelling of “holding”). Since then, the phrase has become a phenomenon in the crypto community, and now whenever someone talks about hold coin or hodling, it means they believe their assets will rise in value in the future.

The question is: does hold coin work? Honestly, it depends a lot on timing, the coin you choose, and even a bit of luck. If you joined in 2017, buying any coin worked because prices surged by 30 to 3000 times in less than a year. But the best time to hold coin is when the market starts to “heat up” and transitions into a bull phase.

However, hold coin isn’t something everyone can do. You need to have faith in blockchain technology, believe that the digital currency market will explode, have spare money that you don’t need right away, and—most importantly—be patient. If you like crypto but don’t have the time or experience to trade effectively, then hold coin is a reasonable choice.

Compared with trading, hold coin is much simpler. Traders need to understand technical analysis in depth, know indicators like Bollinger Bands, MACD, RSI, continuously monitor charts, and maintain a strong mindset. Meanwhile, holders only need basic knowledge of how to buy and sell, how to store coins in a wallet, and how to create an account.

I’d recommend that you combine both methods. You can hold coin on major coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple to reduce risk, and also trade coins to generate additional short-term profits. The best approach is to allocate separate capital to each method and use two different accounts. The biggest rule is “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”—always prioritize preserving your capital first.

When the price of Bitcoin drops, there are many factors that can affect it—hacking news, criticism from economists, or major platforms like Google, Facebook, Twitter restricting crypto ads. At times like this, holding coin truly requires steadfastness.

But when the market is lively and Bitcoin’s price is rising (bull market), people who believe in Bitcoin’s future will clearly see positive signals. CBOE has pushed the SEC to introduce Bitcoin ETFs, Bitcoin’s technical system has continued to develop, and the Lightning Network is expanding further. These examples help investors feel more confident about holding coin through volatile phases.