Welcome to Breach Daily. It’s Tuesday, and Tuesdays are for crypto diaries 😉. This is our weekly series where we ask people in our community to share their crypto secrets.
Getting into crypto is as easy as buying your first crypto asset. But as you become more familiar with the space, you start to become aware of the technicalities. We started this series to get into the experiences of the people in the Breach community: what they’ve learnt about the space since they got into crypto. But more importantly, what they’ve learnt about themselves.
For our first episode of this new people-centred newsletter, we asked members of the Breach community if they are crypto traders or HODL’ers. Before we get into the answers, let’s explain the difference between the two.
Trading cryptocurrency involves speculating on price movements and constantly buying and selling cryptocurrencies based on these predictions.
HODL’er: Acronym for Hold On For Dear Life simply means buying a cryptocurrency and holding on to it for long periods, regardless of the market movement. (Here are some tips on how to decide when to sell as a HODL’er)
We asked 6 people if they are crypto HODL’ers or traders and why. Here’s what they said:
Arabian*, 29
I’ve been in crypto for 2 years now, and I’ve always been a hodl’er. I decided to be a hodl’er because I have seen lives change due to holding. I had a friend in university who bought some dogecoin in 2017. When he sold it last year, he made up to N5 million ($12,045), which he has used to set himself up. Last year, when I bought Shiba Inu, I made some gains myself from hodl’ing — I invested $10 in January 2021 and made $400 even though I sold it earlier than intended. To me, only traders with huge capital make huge profits from trading. However, anything can happen if you hodl. but as a hodl’er, anything can happen.
Emmanuel, 27
I have been investing in crypto for three years. I started out as a hodl’er, but trading has been the most effective method for me. A personal experience is when I bought Litecoin 2020 — I thought it was going to be similar to the big price jump Bitcoin made around the same time. I bought $20 worth of Litecoin but it was barely moving. It was as if I was stagnant. So I did some research and discovered day trading and that was why I started. I learnt more about trading and gained more understanding. The major reason I turned to trading is that my goal was to make high profits and hodl’ing just didn’t do that for me. I believe using the market volatility to my advantage will help me achieve my goals faster than holding my crypto. The time I’ve spent learning about the market is definitely my greatest tool, although sometimes you need elements of luck in the crypto space also.
Clement
I am actually more of a hodl’er than a trader because I have commitments that don’t allow me the time to always be on my computer live trading. Of course, when there are opportunities like swing trading [Swing trading is a style of trading that attempts to capture short- to medium-term gains during a dip], I take advantage of it by buying and reselling in the bull market, but that’s as far as I go. I don’t see that changing though. Even if I had more time I’d rather invest it in building applications that allow people to trade easily than becoming a trader myself.
Amina, 26
I’m a hodl’er. I don’t have the energy or emotional stamina required to be a trader– the ups and downs and constantly looking at charts and predicting how the market will go. It is A LOT. I’d much rather put some of my disposable income into coins I have researched and believe will bring me long-term benefits and, when I feel like I’m ready, sell them. I also don’t invest in every new thing that comes out. I don’t even keep up with it enough to know the new coins when they start trending. So far I think this strategy is working for me — I haven’t sold anything in the 2 years I’ve been in crypto, but I am not in a rush.
Adeniyi, 28
I’m a hodl’er more than a trader because I’m not someone who likes to take much risk when it comes to crypto. The crypto market is very volatile and I noticed that when I trade, I have an urge to recover my losses, and that’s not healthy because I don’t have the discipline required to accept my losses when I trade daily. hodl’ing is more comfortable for me because I usually use money I have marked for long-term investments, which gives me security. I also only invest in projects I believe in, so I hold for 6 months, a year, sometimes even longer. So I consider myself more of a hodl’er than a trader.
Toheeb, 24
I took a stab at crypto for the first time in 2020. There was a lot of buzz about the market at the time and Bitcoin had just gone up to like $60,000 and the FOMO got to me. I bought about N30,000 ($72) at the time, then the price of Bitcoin started to drop 🥲. I waited for it to get back to the amount where I could get out exactly what I put in and quickly took it out. Since then, I haven’t really done any crypto investing. I hold stablecoins though so if that counts, I guess I’m a hodl’er. I mostly hold dollar-backed stablecoins because the goal is to offset Naira’s inflation. I’ve also spoken to a lot of people and most people seem to benefit more from hodl’ing- I spoke to someone who invested when BNB was at like $5 and it went up to $500. They didn’t do anything, just left the money there and it worked for them. So if I were to get into crypto again, I think I’m more likely to hodl.
