Notes on Holding for the Long Term

Plain-language writing about custody, supply, and the boring mechanics that decide whether a long-term crypto position survives. No signals, no price calls.

Market snapshot

Prices from CoinGecko, refreshed on page load. For reference only.

Latest notes

What holding actually costs you

"Just hold" is presented as the option with no downside. It has several — they are just paid in ways that never show up on a price chart.

A token allocation is not a promise

Two thirds of the tokens booked for user airdrops are being relabelled as a growth fund instead. Nobody held a claim on them, and the allocation chart never said otherwise.

Non-custodial answers the wrong question

A privacy option proposed for a large exchange leaves every key with the holder. It also seats someone in front of the trade who can decline it.

Signed code is not honest code

A browser can be told whether a wallet app served the code its developers signed. The check narrows who can lie to you rather than removing the lie.

A deployment is not a copy

Aave has proposed deploying its next version on Base. The shared name carries none of the chain-level differences a holder would actually need to check.

Exchange outages matter more than they look

A venue that goes down for two hours during a large move is not a minor inconvenience. It is a preview of counterparty risk under load.

Self-custody without the paranoia

Most custody advice is written for people defending against nation-states. Here is the version for someone who mainly needs to not lose their own keys.

Stablecoins are not one thing

Fiat-backed, overcollateralised and algorithmic stablecoins share a name and a price target, and almost nothing else. The differences surface exactly when it matters.