This is a great time for hodlers and speculators. During bull runs, everybody is a genius. Naturally, many people will make life-changing money during this period. Either they will be able to retire, or will have enough to pay off a large debt that has been weighing them down. Coming to a decision about what to do during this time can be difficult.
Hodling
There is a saying, "don't change horses in the middle of the stream". In other words, while you're in the middle of something don't change anything. Keep going until the end. Many of us are doing well thanks to the bull run. Yet, we know that there is still plenty of room to grow. We know, for example, that BTC has the potential to reach $100K or more before the end of 2021. This makes hodling a sure bet. All we have to do is let our money ride. It will grow. Altcoins are also making their move this season.
Anybody who has been in the crypto space for a long time knows that we have been following along Plan B's Stock-to-flow model. The model shows that this bull run could see $150K or more BTC. And, by the next bull run, we could see $1M BTC. Statistically, the model is incorrect. I have read criticisms that the maths are flawed. However, even with the flaw, the model seems to be holding up rather well.
Also, as we see institutional and corporate investors entering the space, the likelihood of life-changing money increases. The long-term hodler has the advantage when it comes to making gains.
Changing Your Life
The reality is, however, that many of us have practical needs for our money. We have debts or unexpected expenses that are weighing us down from living prosperously. Perhaps you have a mortgage. Perhaps you have student loan payments. You may need to buy a car to get to work. Or, maybe COVID has affected your family, resulting in a large medical expense. For so many reasons, the gains made so far can serve to fix a problem in your life. Do you cash out and change your life?
The challenge is that whatever good the gains you have now can do for you, it could be more, if you continue to hodl. Cashing out your crypto can buy you some freedom today, or more freedom tomorrow. Obviously, there may be differences in what one could consider life-changing.
For example, life-changing could mean that you could stop renting to finally own your own home. Or, you can pay off a large debt that has been a weight on you for some time.
Or, there is life-changing like being able to afford a surgery that will allow you to walk again.
One possibility is that part of your success has been that crypto is going through a bull run cycle. You may possibly have been lucky, rather than known what you were doing. This means that the bull run will reach the end of its cycle, eventually. So, you may only need to hodl a little longer. You can play the "one more day" game. Unless you need the money immediately to preserve your freedom, health, or domicile, you can always put off cashing out for one more day. Some day, you may reach the point at which you can't wait any more. Hopefully you would have greater gains by then. If you were lucky, you can't count on being lucky again. You need to squeeze everything you can out of this win. Once you cash out, there is no guarantee you'll be able to make money in crypto again. If life-changing money was by accident, pick carefully what parts of your life you want to change. And, with the remainder, hodl as much as you can at least one more day.
Another possibility is that you may actually know what you are doing. You had the discipline to dollar cost average and pick the right cryptos. If this is the case, it is likely that you'll be fine, even in a bear market. You have the discipline to set money aside and allow it to do its magic. If you can free up cash flow, you may very well be able to rebuild your position again. You can make a little profit during this bull run and build heavily before the next. In this case, life-changing was by design. So, change your life.
There is a saying, "You can't go broke taking a profit." This ignores that you may lose out on additional gains. However, it is not false. Maybe you didn't make as much money as was possible. However, you're still better off than when you started.
Another way to look at is that you take out your original investment. This way you are playing with house money.
What each of us does with money is going to be unique to our circumstances. Hopefully your circumstances allow you to hodl your crypto gains for as long as possible. If not, don't feel bad. Especially if you have an opportunity to be better off. You got into this to change your life. What that means is a very personal decision. The only difference is whether you change your life today or tomorrow.