Here’s how I lost 70% of my crypto portfolio:
I did nothing.
Literally nothing.
Because someone smarter, louder, and more confident on Twitter told me:
“Bro just buy and hold. Long term is the way.”
At first, it felt safe. Noble, even.
I wasn't a degenerate trader. I was an investor.
I was going to ride the waves.
Zoom out. Think big. Diamond hands.
Until the market tanked.
Then it tanked again.
Then it stayed there.
And suddenly, my "long-term hold" was just a portfolio full of unrealized pain.
The Myth of “Holding Through It All”
Let me be clear:
HODLing is not a bad strategy.
But blindly HODLing without a plan? That’s not investing. That’s passive denial.
No risk management.
No exit strategy.
No idea what to do when the charts bleed for 7 months straight.
You don’t “diamond hand” your way through that. You just suffer silently while the smarter players quietly rotate into cash, stablecoins, or other plays.
What They Don’t Tell You About Holding
They don’t tell you:
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That Bitcoin crashes 70–80% in bear markets
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That your favorite altcoin may never come back
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That “buy and hold” only works if you're buying good entries and scaling out during peaks
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That sometimes doing nothing is the worst thing you can do
I watched others take profits, rotate into stablecoins, buy the dip smartly.
Me? I held all the way down like it was a personality trait.
Why I Believed It
Because it felt simple.
It gave me hope.
It made me feel smart without needing to learn charts, TA, or macro trends.
And the community reinforced it.
Every time prices dipped, the chorus got louder:
“Just HODL, bro. It’s early. You’ll thank yourself in 5 years.”
The truth is, that advice came from people who either:
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Got in super early and could afford to hold
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Had other income streams and didn’t need the cash
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Or were parroting someone else because they had no plan either
What I Wish I Knew Instead
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You need an exit plan BEFORE you enter.
Even if it's just “sell 25% if we 2x.” Without this, every pump becomes a question mark. -
Learn to scale in AND scale out.
There’s no glory in holding through a 5x and then watching it crash 80%. -
Take partial profits. Often. Without guilt.
Profit isn't cringe. Profit is why you're here. -
Volatility isn't the enemy — it’s the opportunity.
Holding through it can be noble. But sometimes, letting go is smarter. -
The most dangerous strategy is doing nothing and calling it patience.
“HODL” Isn’t a Strategy. It’s a Vibe.
And vibes don’t protect your capital.
What finally snapped me out of it?
Watching a friend I onboarded into crypto exit with a 3x and lock in his gains — while I was still "trusting the process."
It hurt.
Because deep down, I wasn’t holding with conviction — I was holding because I didn’t know what else to do.
The Bottom Line
If someone tells you, “Just buy and hold,” ask them:
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What’s the exit strategy?
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What’s the time horizon?
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What do I do in a bear market?
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What if the project dies?
If they can’t answer those?
It’s not a strategy. It’s just cope with branding.
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