Is Buy and Hold Really the Best Strategy in Crypto?

[deandree]

Some people say that Buy and Hold is the best strategy and can't be beaten. They hear phrases like “95% of traders lose money” and automatically assume that all trading is bad and markets can not be outperformed.

In my Medium post, I’m going to show you, that holding might not be the best option if you put in a little bit of work. To do that, I compare Buy and Hold returns for 25 coins with several basic trend-following strategies in different time periods (over 3.5 years of data and then a little extra).

READ THE POST HERE!

The source code of strategies and raw test results (CSV) is pushed to my Github.

Let me know what you think! Thanks!

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[Harlot]

When it comes to the crypto market I personally don't think there is a best strategy out there as it will always depend on the trader doing it and if he has the time to do this. Yeah buy and hold in your results might look like the worst thing to do and there will be no analysis involve but some people here don't have the time to have their own trading style that's why they are doing it due to lack of time and knowledge with TA. Hodlers still have a chance to maximize their profits by just waiting for the right time to buy rather than just buying right away (I'm referring to DCA).

[GreatArkansas]

Buying and hold are just an alternative of day trading. There are still risks when you buy and hold it for how many days/months/years.
If you also planning to sell what you bought before, it's still trading but it's just really takes too much time, compared to day trading which for me there is much more risk compared to buying and holding it for a long time.

[gentlemand]

I will categorically state that if I had not sat there and done absolutely nothing I would have far fewer coins than I have now. Every time I thought 'hmm, maybe I should make some moves here' they would've turned out to be a heap of shit.

The one thing I wish I had done differently is DCA'd but after that I still would've held only.

People seem to arrive here believing trading or timing the market is the default option and they're guaranteed to 'win'. It should be the polar opposite.

[gentlemand]

I won't say that buy and hold can't beaten because if you buy and hold the coin, you need to think and realize how long the coin can increase, and what is your target price to sell. Most people forget that when the price can increase, and they are willing to make the other highest profit, they will not always make it. They still hold the coin, even when the price is at the highest price because they become greedy to chase another biggest profit.

I guess strategy depends on the coin and your own goals.

I have plenty of shitcoins that I held on to all the way down thinking they couldn't go that far into the toilet, but they did. If they approach a decent price again they'll be disposed of without a second thought. For stuff like that I want a profit that's extracted for good.

Timing buys and sells for something I have long term belief in in the attempt to get more of it is a different matter. I wouldn't do it as the chances of winding up with less than I started with are very high.

[elisabetheva]

not always the purchase has to hold for a long time, if you already feel that the price can be profitable, do the sale and carry out such a strategy if necessary. so the purchase does not always have to hold for a long time depending on the circumstances at that time, because we can analyze with programs that are indeed widely available and do not need to be afraid to make new breakthroughs, because that action can be an important lesson for further action and in the future.

[Oasisman]

Not the best strategy but It will be best for those who has no courage in trading alts.
Though "just holding" has it's own corresponding risk, but It has a different level of risk than short trading and other investment strategy.
The best investment strategy in crypto depends on your passion and enthusiasm to engage where your interest comes from. When you don't want to work that much to gain profit, then I can say trading is the best and the very least you can do.

[wxa7115]

Some people say that Buy and Hold is the best strategy and can't be beaten. They hear phrases like “95% of traders lose money” and automatically assume that all trading is bad and markets can not be outperformed.

In my Medium post, I’m going to show you, that holding might not be the best option if you put in a little bit of work. To do that, I compare Buy and Hold returns for 25 coins with several basic trend-following strategies in different time periods (over 3.5 years of data and then a little extra).

READ THE POST HERE!

The source code of strategies and raw test results (CSV) is pushed to my Github.

Let me know what you think! Thanks!

At the end of the day everything depends on your skills and how long are you willing to work to improve them, it is obvious that if you are a good trader and you can outperform the markets that you are going to be capable of earning more money than someone that just hold their coins, but how many people are capable of doing this? This is where the statistic about the 95% of traders being long term losers becomes important.

This is because it is way easier to become a reasonable good investor that earns money by buying and holding their coins for a very long time than it is to become a good trader and not only it is easier it is way faster as well, at least in terms of the time that you need to dedicate to the activity, and when you take that into account then it is obvious why people prefer to become long term holders.

[Kupid002]

For me its not the best option you can much higher profit trading it in short term trading than holding it for long term and praying that it will soon increase in the price you think its good for you to exit. In short term trading you can earn even daily this is not only In bitcoin buy also on other Altcoins.

[ololajulo]

Not everyone can do daytrade, not everyone have the time either, it also depend on your size of bag and the exchanges listing the coin. Some big bags cant just sell on some exchanges, so they have to hold and ladder out of the coin. The profitable strategy most times is Hodl, hand it over at OTC with average price for sale, usually this takes time because of the volatility of the space. Trading bitcoin can only give good profit by Hodling unlike the small cap coins

[target]

My strategy is mostly holding to tokens particularly the ones that I know will have the potential to 100x. Spot trading is a good option when you know the tokens experience the ups and downs for most of the time.

If you are just trading for USD, you'd best try the margin trading. BTC/USDT is best for it and eventually buy BTC with the earned USD but lke you said not everyone can foresee charts trend.

[Lanatsa]

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Actually a very informative medium article but i would say that this is somewhat a little bit advanced for some specially if you do really read it up but for those people who do already had the grasp in trading
will really likely able to get it with no problems.

Buy low and sell high might really be that too very basic strategy but it do really works but to know that there are lots of variations on where this buy and sell should be applied and it all goes or vary
into each trader on how they do deal with volatility with corresponding strategy that they made.

It doesnt matter generally as long you do profit then thats whats important.

[Twentyonepaylots]

Well there are various factors of a successful investment with crypto, first of your target profit let's say 30% or 20%, second is with the coin, is the coin would be volatile enough to pump or dump? is the coin able to give you your target profit? lastly is the time or time range, this is the very vital of the factors that I've said, time will always tell apart from your target and selected coin. let's say to got a target profit with a right coin but you don't know when to sell out or you expected short.

[LUCKMCFLY]

It really depends on what you want to be, if you just want to be an investor, the smartest thing to do is buy and hodl! But if you want to be a market speculator, you must go with the line of least resistance, just like Jesse Livermore did, it all depends on what you really want.

[Kasabus]

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Actually a very informative medium article but i would say that this is somewhat a little bit advanced for some specially if you do really read it up but for those people who do already had the grasp in trading
will really likely able to get it with no problems.

Buy low and sell high might really be that too very basic strategy but it do really works but to know that there are lots of variations on where this buy and sell should be applied and it all goes or vary
into each trader on how they do deal with volatility with corresponding strategy that they made.

It doesnt matter generally as long you do profit then thats whats important.

True. Buy and hold might be the most old and basic strategy in trading but if you are comfortable and still making profits from it, then go on. I believe some traders are just too rush and becomes greedy to make more profits in just a short period of time but still end up regretting because they all lose their capital. The result of trading depends on how a single trader manages its own strategies and works on it.

[abel1337]

I think buy and hold strategy will only apply to some assets/token, Not everyone can get the way of buying and holding like not every token is suitable for that kind of strategy and just holding it means that you are giving your trust to that certain token. I myself only hold 2 coins and it is Bitcoin and Ethereum because longevity wise I believe that I can profit on both of them. As a trader, I like trading big coins but I ain't holding it for too long because I know I can make better profits in trading them. Each coin has different potentials you just need to find them then learn the strategies and how to execute it.

[Becky666]

Let's be frank with ourselves, buy and hold some random stupid tokens won't yield anything even in years. The buy and hold don't actually give the assurance of win to anyone with such mindset. The project will determine if the tokens are Worth holding or not, don't expect to buy rubbish and think hold will perform a magic of profit.

But, buy and  hold will be a good strategy when you buy the right token or coin. There are good defi projects with prospect, buying anyone of them will surely give a good profit on a long-term. I bought some Bandtokens in April early this year to hold which gave me profit.

[Erumo]

Everything depends on 2 facts: how much you have spend on crypto and how long you are going to hold. Holding less than half a year is useless. Holding equivalent of less than 100$ is useless. Better spend this hundred on any instant benefit.

[TGD]

Strategy depends on the trading style of the trader. You can't implement the strategy that working for to other people because we have a different way on decision making and choosing the perfect strategy is very subjective. In my case, I try different type of strategy before using small amount of money, I record all my trading data and create different strategy guideline. After many trial and error, I pick the perfect strategy using the data sheet that I gather and scale up my trading on that specific method. Buy and hold is perfect for project that is still new while swing trading is for project that running for a long time. Doing swing trade on new project will just make you FOMO because big news can  messed up on your trading.

[bakasabo]

There is no best or worst strategy in cryptocurrency and other type of trading. Everything is individual and depends on the situation. Proper timing and research are what matters most. You can spontaneously buy at ATH or during a pump and hold for ages to get at least a cent of profit. Or you might buy second before huge pump and price growth start.

Buy and Hold is no the best, but the most easy strategy. All you need to do is to make a research before buying. If you still lazy, buy bitcoin at any time you want. People say its price will reach $50,000/$100,000/$1,000,000 by the end of 2020/2021/2022/...