What does HODL mean?
Bitcoin slang for holding coins instead of selling, from a 2013 forum post whose author misspelled “hold” in its title.
In December 2013, after a price drop, a bitcointalkBitcointalkThe Bitcoin forum Satoshi Nakamoto opened in November 2009. Much of Bitcoin’s early history, from the pizza offer to Satoshi’s last post, happened there. user posted “I AM HODLING” — a typo that became the word. It now means keeping your bitcoin through the swings rather than trading them.
You'll also see it backronymed as “hold on for dear life”, but that's a later invention. This site doesn't give advice on whether to hold or sell — it's just the word's history.
References
- BitcoinTalk, “I AM HODLING (18 December 2013)”.