For me, all of those are profitable depend on how you handle it. Holdinh btc is profitable if it rise and you aqymuire it at a very low price. Short term trading or daybtrading is also effective way on how to gain more but with a higher risk than long term.
Everything depends on the person and his skills and experience. As I see it, the newbie cannot deal with the day trading as in 95% he will make a mistake and lose the money. Here, the beginner should better hold.
Choosing anything out of holding, day trading and long-term trading is the most important and the most difficult job to do but you have to spend some good period of time to think about all these options and then making some final decision. Lot of things count once you make any final choice and you need to be sure that you are making the right choice which will then help you in making more money.