Quote from: ParabellumLite on April 11, 2014, 10:40:33 AM

First of all: I'm no hodler. I cashed out when things got a bit too scary for my taste. Second of all: I feel bad for everyone that has lost money or is on the verge of losing money. You have my sympathy.

Bitcoin is in a prominent bear market at the moment and the current exchange rate might just be a pitstop on the road downwards. What amazes me however is that so many people, people that can actually read a chart, really feel entitled to another quadruple digit rally. Wait, check that. They are sure it is going to happen. Even amidst the chaos of the last days I can still see people claiming that it will reach 10.000 dollars; some even say it will reach that number in three months already.

What I find so curious is that many HODLers here seem to have a very religious devotion to Bitcoin, despite the serious situation Bitcoin is in. Some seem to be even more devoted to their own religion of Bitcoinism than the pope is committed to the Roman Catholic Church. I believe this to be a very dangerous attitude, given the risks involved. It wouldn't surprise me if quite a few posters on these boards are all in with all their life savings - or have even indebted themselves - and are sure shitting themselves at this moment. It might be a religious, god revering response to look up and say to yourself: 'Everything will be all right, I just know it'. They discard any possibility that some guy will come around with a new, superior protocol in as short as the next few years and just blatantly ignore the fact that Bitcoin is not alive at all among the vast majority of the population. Next to that: they probably have a good feeling that governments will not allow capital to flow unrestricted and out of their scope, but still they ignore it.
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Question is why? What is it? Desperation? Total mania? Tell me. I just can't explain it anymore.

Hi, long time hodler here (I did sell and spend BTC over the last 3 years, but had I never sold or spent any, I'd have only 50% more than I have now... I consider that pretty stubborn tight hodling. I held on all the way from $32 to $1.96 or whatever it was in late 2011, even buying more on the way down. Of course, had I sold and bought back in at the right times I would now have 10,000% or more than what I have now)

I'll try to explain my psychology... can't speak for every hodler out there:

First, let's begin by explaining that I think crypot is better money that fiat. I had gotten into Bitcoin because it was technically fascinating to me. Then I learned a bit about money in general and become a sound money advocate. I think this might be a key difference between you (let's make that some hypothetical you) and me: you "think in fiat", I "think in BTC". I try to increase my crypto-stash, you try to make a fiat-profit. You go to sleep with fiat, I go to sleep with BTC. You can't understand how people can hold on to BTC during a month-long bear-market, I can't understand how people can "wait for the next dip" in BTC bull markets.

Furthermore: greed had gotten the better of me at times (during 2012 and 2013 mainly) and I saw people increase their BTC-stash by large percentages by selling high and buying low, so I tried that in order to acquire more BTC. I failed miserably because the market got away from me repeatedly. The attempt failed more often than not (it was mostly a bull market after all, so what do you expect given a non-experienced trader like me). Those experiences stuck with me and I have decided that holding is the best strategy for me (and selling a little bit for fiat/metal at times in order to not have to hear "see, I told you so, you should've sold" from friends and also of course because of fear).

Also: I think I'm quite a bit more relaxed than you picture the average hodler to be: Bitcoin could go to 0 and I'd still have a good life after that. I'd be quite sad and angry for a while for sure (depending on the circumstances, of course), but I'd be able to get on with my life, both financially and psychologically.

About that "religious devotion": I really do think crypto will change (is already changing) the world for the better. You might call that naive or romantic or whatnot, but I do believe that. And believe me: I ponder the dangers crypto and bitcoin (might) face every day and reassess my views on a regular basis, trying to keep an open mind. There have indeed been times when I thought some bitcoin 2.0 alt could steal the show and I'm not ruling it out 100% (would it be so bad? After all it would be way better than bitcoin!). My belief that BTC will remain the main carrier of value in the crypto space and the most secure blockchain for quite a while has lately been reinforced, though. Even to the point where I sold 1/3rd of my alts (mainly LTC, PPC) last week, something I had only once done before. So I don't "discard any possibilities" and "say stuff to myself". I try to assess reality and make projections... with varying success, of course.

;tldr: It's not desperation or mania, it's just a different (possibly wrong) assessment of reality and projection of the future.