In my experience HODL yes is profitable but why you should HODL if you can earn through swings in bull and bearish market, by holding you wasted the opportunities to earn through swings and day trades.
What you can do is to have half of your investment go into HODL and the other half to day trading and swing trades.
Yes hold is very profitable but it has certain terms that has to be fulfilled
And neglecting to those terms means losses
Always dyor as well