The Hodl Mentality Is Holding Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Back

Depending on who you speak to, you've got different types of cryptocurrency user.

1. The "hodler" who doesn't sell and strongly believes one day their holdings of cryptocurrency (most likely Bitcoin) will be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, they are playing the long-term game and don't look at the short-term price.
2. The "I am in it for the technology" person. This kind of cryptocurrency holder will tell you they only invest because they believe in the technological applications of cryptocurrencies (the blockchain) and they don't care about the money, they just want to cast a vote onto a blockchain one day.
3. The "naive idealist" who do not trust the government and one day believes that cryptocurrencies will replace traditional fiat currencies, that you'll pay your bills and buy your groceries only using crypto.
4. The trader who doesn't have allegiance to any particular cryptocurrency, they go where the markets go and follow the scent of money, not loyalty. These traders are purely invested to make money, they'll sell high and buy low, hopping between established and shitcoins, anywhere to make a buck.

Personalities 3 and 1 conflict with one another. Personality number 1 (long-term hodlers) believe that you shouldn't spend your cryptocurrency, they think you should put your Bitcoin into a cold wallet and don't touch it for a few years.

_{image from pixabay}

At the same time, most long-term hodlers believe the price will only trend upwards over a long period of time. And many agree that this will be due to two factors: supply/demand and adoption. For cryptocurrency to succeed in the adoption department, it needs to go beyond being a tradable commodity, a digital asset (the equivalent of a stock or bond).

Personality number 3 (those who believe crypto will replace fiat) are mostly of the opinion that for prices to go up, people need to start using cryptocurrencies beyond trading. This means spending your cryptocurrencies to buy goods, services and pay bills (moving beyond exchanges).

Here is where the conflict arises

If hodlers believe you shouldn't sell your crypto, but want to see it go up in price and become adopted, and crypto truthers want to see adoption increase by replacing fiat (which involves spending it), which is it?

And while some will argue that you can hodl and spend your crypto, no you can't. You either are a hodler or you're a spender.

It raises the question of, if everyone decided not to spend their crypto, would the price go up or would interest wane as company and institutional focus on making cryptocurrencies more mainstream goes away?

Using a Shift card connected with Coinbase, United States cryptocurrency users can spend money from their Coinbase accounts using a Visa debit card. The fees are horrendous, but it allows users to spend Bitcoin directly from their Bitcoin wallet on Coinbase.

There are also other cryptocurrency startups like MCO by Crypto.com who are attempting to bring Visa debit cards funded by different currencies in a digital wallet app to market as well. Once again, trying to create a new market of crypto card payments without the hassle of withdrawals.

For cryptocurrency to succeed, we have to break out of the hodl mentality. Spending your cryptocurrencies, instead of trading or hoarding them is the only way we are going to see the price go up in the long-term.

When you hodl, you're treating cryptocurrency as an asset and not an alternative to fiat currency (which many seemingly want to replace). Which is it? Do we want adoption and an alternative to fiat currency, or do we just want to sit around and hope that in three years time Bitcoin is worth $100k?