Here’s What To Do Right Now If You Hold Bitcoin

The bitcoin and cryptocurrency space is a tough place to be right now. At time of writing (mid-morning US on Friday), bitcoin is down around 30% from highs and 15% on the last twenty-four hours alone. Much of the other (what we might call) majors are following suit – Litecoin is down 18% on the last twenty-four hours, Ethereum is down just shy of 20% on the same timeframe and Bitcoin Cash is down a massive 26%.

Bitcoin Chart

The major news media outlets, the same ones that have been pitching bitcoin as a potential bubble over the last few weeks – CNBC, Financial Times, other top-tier outlets – are patting themselves on the back and calling for the end of the bubble and, in turn, the space as a whole.

People are panic selling and contributing to the dips, driving price down further as speculative volume exits towards the so-called safe havens.

So what does all this mean and – more importantly – what should traders and investors with an exposure to the cryptocurrency space do about it?

Our answer is simple – nothing.

Many reading will likely already be familiar with the term HODL. For those that aren’t, it dates back to a post that was published on a popular bitcoin forum by a user who misspelled the world hold. Since then, it’s been adopted by the community as referencing the idea that you should buy and hold, whatever happens.

And there’s an incredible degree of justification for this strategy. Those who HODL’d through the last few years are, in all likelihood, sitting on millions of dollars of bitcoin right now.

But here’s a misconception – that this money was easily made. It wasn’t. HODLing sounds easy, but it’s not. We’ve seen probably nine or ten major corrections over the last seven years in this space, and when we say major we’re talking 25%, 30% plus. Every time one of these corrections happens, a portion of those with bitcoin holdings bail out of their positions on expectations (and, as is generally the case, expectations fueled by the mainstream media calling for the end of the bitcoin bubble). Bailing out, of course, is the easy option.

HODLing, on the other hand, is the hardest thing to do. It means you’ve got to put aside the general consensus on the assumption that you know something that the vast majority of other people don’t. That’s a big claim.

It’s one that’s done many people very well over the last few years, however, and it’s one that will continue to do many others well (the ones with a strong disposition) as things play out and this correction turns around.

We’re not saying be foolhardy, of course. If converting 20% or even 30% of your coins into fiat is going to be a life-changing windfall and allow you to be financially secure, by all means, go ahead (it would sort of be foolish not to).

What we are saying, however, is that this is nothing new in this space and the only real difference this time around is that bitcoin has become big enough (and, in turn, has entered into the conscience of the general public to a high enough degree) for the above mentioned big name outlets to care about the correction.

Many of us in this space have sat through this sort of thing before and we’ll sit through it again before long. It’s all in the game.

So there we go. Do nothing. Stay the course. HODL. Or, if you’ve got some spare capital lying around, pick up some cheap coins on the dip.

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Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency.

Image courtesy of Global Coin Report Archives/Flickr