Originally posted August 8, 2018. Last Updated May 22, 2021
What does HODL mean?
In December 2013, early in Bitcoin’s trading life, a very excited (some say inebriated) Bitcoin trader made the typo “HODL” instead of “HOLD” when exclaiming “I AM HODLING.”
As the Internet is prone to do, the misspelling stuck and became not only a meme, but a slang term many Bitcoin traders use when saying that they plan not to sell – or hold (HODL, in this case) – their assets.
Does Get Irked recommend HODLing?
No. The crypto space is absolutely not a buy-and-hold speculative investment.
Professional investment managers suggest you invest a maximum of 5% of your overall portfolio in a speculative asset or investment. The concept is that you should only risk what you’re prepared to lose as the more speculative an investment is, the higher the risk of it potentially becoming worthless.
Due to the extreme volatility of the cryptocurrency market with prices fluctuating as much as 15% or more in a matter of minutes, Get Irked recommends careful scrutiny should you decide to get into the space.
Irk took the biggest rip of his life – a loss of 36.6% of his crypto portfolio – in July 2018 in order to take a more effective approach to the crypto space. He learned the hard way that this space must be watched carefully, preferably with a bottle of antacid nearby.
Sign up for a free Coinbase account, if you dare
Now that you know what a Bitcoin is, do you still want to trade Bitcoin? If so, you can sign up for a free account at Coinbase. If you use Get Irked’s link to sign up, we will each receive $10 USD after you’ve traded $100 in volume. As always, trade carefully and know the inherent risks involved in any asset class, particularly this one.