I have not been in the crypto space for as long as other, but these 5 things I can tell you from experience....
When you are a holder of crypto currencies, you can maintain a day job. This means you have a regular income and can buy more coins every month from your savings. Day traders are having to buy in and out with the same pool of money, and often are doing trades, just to be doing something daily.....even when the the trade makes no sense.
When the markets have a heavy correction, similar to the one we just experienced (January 2018), holders do not suffer nearly as much anxiety as as traders - they have bought for the long run and if they did their homework, will be pretty confident that their crypto's will get back to those levels they were and will surpass them sooner or later. Traders just see their complete deployed capital going down 50, 60, 70, 80 and even 90%.
Traders in down cycles are scrambling to lose as little as possible, giving them sleepless nights and in doing so, having heavy impact on their health. They will be glad during upmarkets, but once again do not relax as they are constantly having to monitor their positions. Holders on the other hand are happy when the markets go up, knowing that their due diligence is paying off, and just as glad in a down market, as they are able to buy the coins they believed in at original prices, at much larger discounts, as the market takes a breather (same coin, discounted price).
There is some crazy statistic that 70%+ of traders lose money. I would imagine it is closer to 80% and then you have the top 20% of professionals , institutions and people with deep pockets (whales). Why would you want to trade with these statistics.......are you smarter than the professionals ? Holders buy as investments and exit the trades when they have hit their desired target. A holder knows he must be patient.
Holders can buy into positions with the comfort of knowing that they are early movers (relatively speaking) into the crypto space. Being an early entrant gives one a massive advantage over those that will enter this space in 2, 3, 5 or even 10 years time. Traders get in now and hope that the trade moves in the right direction.....because the crypto space is such a young and vibrant, immature and energetic market.....any coin can and does deviate by 20, 50 or even 100% in 1 day. Early markets with vibrant girations often result in early heart attacks and early bankruptcies....and often traders lose loads of money, which is borrowed!
Are you gonna be a trader or a hodler?