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HODL

Holding an asset through volatility instead of trading it — from a misspelling of "hold" in a 2013 forum post.

Last verified 13 September 2026 · written by the DexLadder team

What it means

Holding an asset through volatility instead of trading it — from a misspelling of "hold" in a 2013 forum post.

Why it matters when you trade

As strategy it is a decision to accept full drawdown in exchange for full trend, and for the largest assets that has historically outperformed most discretionary trading. Its real difficulty is behavioural: holding through an 80% decline is a different experience from reading about one. It is also not a thesis — it works when the asset survives, which is a claim that needs its own reasoning.

Worked example

Holding through a 75% drawdown to capture the subsequent recovery requires never being forced to sell — which means never using leverage or money you need.

See it on live markets

DexLadder runs hodl against live market and pool data, with simulated capital, so you can watch it act on an order instead of reading about it — no account, no wallet, nothing installed.

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