What is HODL?
The short answer
Crypto slang for holding an asset long-term rather than trading it, originating from a famous misspelling of "hold."
Used both earnestly (as a long-term-holding strategy) and jokingly. It doesn’t make holding automatically the right choice — that still depends on your own circumstances and risk tolerance.
Related terms
Full glossaryDEX (Decentralized Exchange)
A crypto exchange that runs on smart contracts rather than a company matching buyers and sellers.
Blockchain
A shared, tamper-evident record of transactions, copied across many independent computers instead of one company's private database.
Token
A cryptocurrency built on top of another blockchain, rather than having its own independent network.
Whale
Slang for an individual or entity holding a very large amount of a given cryptocurrency.
Smart Contract
Self-executing code on a blockchain that automatically carries out an agreement without a company in the middle.
Validator
A participant on a proof-of-stake network responsible for checking and confirming transactions.
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