The HODLing Obstacle is True.

Since the inception of Bitcoin and Ethereum, a slew of new crypto assets have emerged, including Cardano (ADA), Terra (LUNA), and Decentraland (MANA). But there was one question that I couldn't get out of my head. What happened to Litecoin (LTC) and Stellar (XLM) long-term holders?

Due to several market and macroeconomic circumstances, there was a massive market decline at the end of 2021, which rocked the crypto world to its core. I decided to ask some long-term holders of various crypto and non-crypto assets what they felt about holding an asset for a long time at that point. The comments were unexpectedly diverse.

"Surely, long-term HODLers must have forgotten about their investments and everything is OK for them," you would reason. Contrary to popular assumption, the situation is a bit of a mixed bag. It all comes down to how each investor understands the word "long-term." Someone may define 'long-term' as one year, while another may define it as 10, 50, or even 100 years (i.e., an inter-generational investment). I inquired as to why an investor would want to invest for a year or a decade. "Market expectations" was the most prevalent response.

Here's an illustration. Let's imagine a person wishes to put money into Bitcoin. Why would he want to remain holding the asset in 2023 if he expected the market to have a bull run in 2022 followed by a long-term bad market in the next decade? Market expectations are based on a variety of market dynamics beliefs. If an investor believes that a year or a decade is sufficient, a new question arises. How often do you check on such an investment? There were a variety of responses this time.

It all relies on your short-term and long-term objectives. One person, for example, may like to use a portion of their investment income to acquire their favorite meme coin, such as Dogecoin. As a result, they'll want to keep an eye on the charts for any unrealized profits throughout their hodling session. Another person may be able to sense a financial catastrophe approaching and may need to withdraw part of their returns from their investment by the middle of the year. As can be seen, the frequency with which the charts are checked is determined by the type of target. This is when the difficulty begins.

Over the last decade, the number of new investors in the crypto field has exploded. While long-term or seasoned crypto HODLers have seen their fair share of the market's volatility in recent years, novice investors may feel as if it's a tidal wave. As soon as they notice the charts are falling, huge FUD sets in, and the desire to sell goes into overdrive. "It's the impulse you have to resist," as one long-term HODLer described it.

A new long-term investor's 'bane' isn't just charts. It's also the apprehension that comes with making a new or unknown investment. Consider when MySpace controlled the airwaves at the start of the social media 'period.' When Facebook first appeared on the scene, some investors may have said to themselves, "Oh, my goodness! When there's already MySpace, why invest in Facebook? ".. Oh, how wrong they were.

New investors in the crypto space can be made or broken by challenges such as FUD, short-term FOMOs, and other temptations. What are your thoughts on the difficulties of holding a crypto asset? Do you want to tell us about your HODLing experience? You may post it in the comments area below.