Many many people say they are holding this, holding that for the "long term" but please tell me what exactly is your guys definition of "long term"?
For me, 1 year is considered long time. I began investing this January and I will hold one year and cash out everything January 2019. So by your definition, is this more short term or long term? Is 1 year enough time to see gains?

Long-term definitely. If you try to compare crypto to traditional markets it's opened 3 times longer, like 24/7 and that's also why it moves much faster.