HODL
A drunken typo for "hold" that became Bitcoin's word for unshakeable conviction.
In plain words
December 2013: the price is crashing, and a Bitcointalk user posts a whiskey-fueled rant titled "I AM HODLING." He knows he typed it wrong. He does not care. His argument is honest self-knowledge: he is a bad trader, timing the swings is how bad traders lose coins, so he will simply hold. The typo became a verb, then a creed: know what you own, know yourself, and let volatility scare someone else.
Why it matters
- Born in a crash — the word carries a strategy, not just a joke.
- It encodes a real insight: most people trade worse than they hold.
- Proof of Bitcoin's culture: even its typos get put to work.
Not to be confused with
- "Hold On for Dear Life" — a later backronym. The origin is a typo, nothing more.
Go deeper
- The original post — "I AM HODLING," December 18, 2013.
- Store of value
- Pizza Day
Updated 2026-07-30