General
Beginner
Updated 1/15/2025
What is
HODL?
Crypto slang for 'Hold On for Dear Life' - a long-term investment strategy of holding cryptocurrency through market volatility rather than selling.
HODL originated from a famous 2013 Bitcoin forum post where a user misspelled 'hold' while explaining why they wouldn't sell during a price crash. It has since become a rallying cry and investment philosophy in crypto, often interpreted as 'Hold On for Dear Life.' HODLers believe in the long-term value of their cryptocurrency and refuse to panic sell during downturns. For Ergo, HODLing aligns with the project's sound money principles - fixed supply, fair launch, and focus on long-term utility rather than short-term speculation.
Key Points
- Originated from a 2013 Bitcoin forum typo
- Philosophy: hold through volatility, don't panic sell
- Often interpreted as 'Hold On for Dear Life'
- Aligns with Ergo's sound money principles
- Opposite of day trading or speculation
- Related terms: diamond hands, paper hands, weak hands
Use Cases
1
Long-term investment strategy for ERG believers
2
Avoiding emotional trading during market volatility
3
Building position over time through dollar-cost averaging
4
Supporting network security by reducing circulating supply
Technical Details
From a technical perspective, HODLing on Ergo means keeping ERG in a secure wallet (ideally hardware wallet for large amounts) for extended periods. Ergo's Storage Rent mechanism has minimal impact on HODLers with active wallets. The fixed 97.7M ERG supply and decreasing emission schedule make HODLing attractive for those who believe in long-term value appreciation.
Related Infographics
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about HODL
Common questions about this topic
How to provide liquidity on Ergo?
Providing liquidity on Ergo depends on the current active DEX or AMM venue. In general, you deposit equal value of two assets into a pool, receive LP tokens representing your share, and earn a portion of trading fees. Spectrum Finance is historical/frozen since February 2024, so verify the active venue, contracts, liquidity depth, and withdrawal process before depositing funds.
How-to
DeFi
How do miners earn money on Ergo?
Ergo miners earn from three sources: block rewards (newly minted ERG), transaction fees, and storage rent. Block rewards decrease over time according to the emission schedule, but storage rent ensures long-term income even after all ERG is mined. Most miners use pools for consistent payouts.
How-to
Mining
How to build DeFi on Ergo?
Building DeFi on Ergo starts with understanding the eUTXO model and ErgoScript. Unlike account-based chains, Ergo's box model provides deterministic execution, strong MEV-resistance, and predictable fee construction. Use Oracle Pools for price feeds, and study existing patterns from Spectrum Finance and SigmaUSD.
How-to
DeFi
Is Ergo a good investment?
This is not financial advice. Ergo has strong fundamentals: fair launch (no VC dump risk), innovative technology (eUTXO, Sigma Protocols, NiPoPoWs), active development, and a cypherpunk ethos. It's a smaller market cap project with higher risk/reward than established chains. Research thoroughly, understand the technology, and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
Comparison
Getting Started