How to be a better hodler, explained

Leaving cryptocurrencies can end up being the lowest-risk strategy in the long run.

The crypto markets fluctuate wildly on a daily basis — and attempting to time the market is exceptionally unwise to say the least.

Indeed, the same is true for other assets such as stocks. Recent research looked at what would have happened if someone invested $10,000 in the S&P 500 back in 2006 — and looked at a number of different scenarios.

Those who remained fully invested ended up with a balance of $41,100 by Dec. 31, 2020. Missing the market’s 10 best days would have resulted in a balance of $18,829 — that’s a whole $22,270 less.

Comparably, jumping in and out of crypto also creates the risk of missing the market’s best days. We’ve seen how Bitcoin and Ether have managed to post dramatic double-digit surges within a matter of hours. Selling off your crypto in a panic creates a far larger risk to the health of a portfolio.

Finding the projects you truly believe in and resisting the fear of missing out is a strategy that’s proven itself time and time again for crypto investors.

Although hodling is the best strategy, there are ways of doing it wrong.

Gritting your teeth and leaving cryptoassets untouched is not easy. Investors who lack discipline can end up becoming fixated when prices start falling — and this prompts them to act impulsively.

Hodling is emotionally difficult, and it takes patience and a long-term vision to ensure you don’t get shaken out of the market.

It’s also important to note the dangers that can be associated with using exchange wallets. We have seen a number of incidents where investors have ended up losing the capital that was stored on trading platforms. In the case of Mt. Gox, victims are still waiting for compensation… seven years later.

Aside from the security concerns, leaving crypto in an account means that these assets don’t grow — and there’s a temptation to start actively trading. You need to make sure that you feel like you’re making progress when you hodl.

Staking programs have become a popular way to mitigate the downsides of hodling.

This brand-new offshoot in the DeFi space helps to solve a number of the pain points associated with hodling.

First, tokens are staked somewhere out of your reach — eliminating the risk of panic selling. They’re also not stored in an exchange wallet where they can get hacked. (However, it’s important to assess the reputation of a staking program to make sure that its security measures are watertight, and decentralized platforms can deliver added safety.)

Crucially though, staked assets can also deliver a yield, meaning that they will accumulate value over time. This ensures that you feel you’re making progress, all while doing nothing.

It’s a very fragmented market, but you can whittle things down with this easy checklist of requirements.

First, you should find out whether a platform supports the type of token or cryptocurrency that you wish to stake. Most offer very few options in this regard, but a few support a broad cross-section of assets. This enables you to keep your investment in one place.

Next, examine how decentralized a staking platform is — and whether it’s reliable. Find out which projects have been listed for staking programs, and determine whether a minimum APY is guaranteed. The last thing you want is to be left disappointed by companies that advertise high returns that never materialize.

Also, see if there are any added benefits to a platform. Some offer airdrops, while others offer an array of smart diversification options that allow you to make the most of your crypto.

All of this begins by finding cryptocurrencies that have a long-term future, and a reliable staking platform that you can trust.

Locking up your tokens can eliminate some of the mental pressures that are associated with hodling — and give you a way of accruing value in the meantime.

UniFarm delivers a guaranteed minimum APY across a number of tokens, and also offer automated diversification for any returns that are accrued.

This gives you greater exposure to opportunities in a bull run — and when it comes to a bear market, it ensures that returns are automatically hedged five ways.

The platform is expanding to farming pools on more chains, and cross-chain farming is also going to be available within weeks. Support for farming real-world assets is in the pipeline, and some of the biggest names in blockchain are now involved in the project.

Given the inherent uncertainty that we’re seeing in the crypto markets right now, staking has the potential to give hodlers some much-needed peace of mind.