Bitcoin Basics Series — Part 5
The Temptation to Chase
If you’ve ever watched Bitcoin’s price for more than a few minutes, you’ve probably felt it — that jolt when it jumps or the pit in your stomach when it drops.
It’s human nature to want to “time the market.”
Buy low, sell high. Sounds simple, right?
But in practice, it often ends in regret. Even seasoned traders get burned.
That’s where HODLing comes in — a mindset that flips the script and helps you stay the course through the noise.
What Does HODL Even Mean?
Back in 2013, someone on a Bitcoin forum meant to type “I’m holding” during a crash… but they typed “I’m HODLing” instead.
The typo stuck.
Over time, HODL came to mean more than just “holding” — it means sitting through the cycles, ignoring the panic, and trusting the longer arc.
Why HODLing Works
Here’s what makes HODLing not just a meme, but a smart approach for most people:
- Bitcoin’s Supply Is Fixed. Only 21 million will ever exist. That scarcity doesn’t care about today’s price.
- Volatility Shrinks Over Time. In the early years, the swings are wild. But over a multiyear horizon, the trend tends to smooth out.
- Timing the Market Is a Fool’s Game. You have to be right twice — when you get in and when you get out. Very few manage that.
Bitcoin doesn’t reward guesses. It rewards conviction.
Introducing Low-Time Preference
One phrase you’ll start to hear as you go deeper in this space is low-time preference.
In plain terms, a person with low-time preference is someone who values tomorrow more than today — who resists the urge for instant gratification, and thinks in decades instead of days.
Bitcoiners often say:
If you’re not willing to own it for 10 years,
don’t even think about owning it for 10 minutes.
That doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy short-term gains (you might).
But your mindset is rooted in time, not in chasing fast wins.
My Own Journey: From Price Stress to High Score Watching
I’ll be honest: When I first got into Bitcoin, I was obsessed with the daily price. I felt like my stakes depended on each tick.
Over time, something shifted.
I began seeing the price as a scoreboard, not fate.
Every new all-time high became a fun moment to watch — not a bet I needed to win.
My hopes didn’t ride on it. And when it dipped, it didn’t break me.
That change in perspective — from urgent to playful — was powerful. It’s not about being cold or detached; it’s about seeing the long horizon and letting volatility be part of the scenery, not the threat.
A Closer Look at DCA vs. Trying to Time the Market
One of the clearest ways to support a HODL mindset is dollar-cost averaging (DCA): buying the same amount of Bitcoin at regular intervals, no matter the price.
- DCA smooths out volatility by spreading purchases over highs and lows.
- It removes the pressure of needing to “pick the bottom.”
- Over time, people who DCA often outperform those who chase dips and peaks.
- Even financial commentary supports this: DCA helps reduce emotional trading and tends to produce better long-term outcomes for non-professional traders. The Motley Fool+1
If timing were easy, every trader would win.
But for most, consistency beats guesswork.
The Emotional Roller Coaster
Even with a HODL mindset, watching wild swings can tug at your nerves.
And that’s totally normal.
But here’s what shifts when you’ve committed to time and fundamentals:
- Swings become expected, not terrifying.
- You stop chasing the top or cursing the bottom.
- You start seeing corrections as setups, not signals to bail.
Trust the rules. Trust the network. Let time bear the weight.
A Word to Beginners
Feeling intimidated? You’re not alone. All the names, tools, and volatility can feel overwhelming.
That’s okay. Every expert once started with confusion.
The trick is simple: Take one step at a time.
Eat the elephant one bite at a time. Before you know it, the language, the concepts, the rhythms — they’ll begin to feel natural.
When you look back, you might realize it was never as hard as it seemed.
The Takeaway
HODLing is more than a meme — it’s a mindset rooted in time preference, not price obsession.
It’s not about guessing the next move. It’s about trusting scarcity, trusting the network, and letting time do the heavy lifting.
If you want to win with Bitcoin, think like a marathon runner, not a sprinter: steady, patient, and consistent.
Wrapping Up the Bitcoin Basics Series
This closes out the first segment of my Bitcoin Basics series.
Together, we’ve walked from What Bitcoin Is, to Why Scarcity Matters, to Why Bitcoin Stands Alone, to How to Hold It Safely, and now How to Think Like a Bitcoiner Over Time.
I wrote this not just to explain Bitcoin to you — to build something my future kids can read when they’re ready. These are the very baseline Bitcoin fundamentals I want my kids to grasp first when they’re ready to take the orange pill.
There’s a lot more ahead: inflation, mining, regulation, Lightning Networks, money redesign, and more. If you’re ready, let’s go deeper together.
👉 Coming soon: Extended topics in the “Beyond the Basics” series.