If you're holding the Internet Computer, this is the strategy I use to make sure I don't miss the big gains: a three-tier system split across an indefinite lock, a short-term lock, and a liquid bag. Here's how I think about how much goes in each, and why. None of this is financial advice — it's my own baseline.
Fill the indefinite lock first
The first bag I fill, and the one I'd never go below a third on, is the indefinite lock. The whole point of locking ICP indefinitely is so you can't sell it early. Imagine the price spikes to $100 and you happily dump your liquid and your short-term stack — now imagine it eventually runs to $1,000 and you'd sold your long-term position too. That's the regret this bag prevents. It also pays the most: mine is on a roughly two-year dissolve that I'm not dissolving yet, so I keep the age bonus and earn around 8.4% on about 3,300 ICP plus accrued maturity. Once that bag is full enough, I stop adding to it and move on.
Then the short lock
Next I fill the short-term lock, because there's no reason to hold ICP without at least earning an APR on it. Mine sits at about 2.24% on a 14-day dissolve, with the maturity compounding automatically — so it just earns while I can free it up two weeks out whenever I want. You can tune this: lock for longer and you earn more. A one-year lock might pay around 3% instead of 2%. You can get as fancy as you like with the ladder, but the principle is simple — idle ICP should still be working.
Keep a liquid bag
The last tier is liquid — I keep roughly 1,200 ICP available. This is the flexibility bag. If the price shoots to $20 next week and I need to cover rent, I can sell a chunk of liquid and pay my bills for the rest of the year without touching either lock. It's there precisely so a real-life expense never forces me to break my long-term position.
Why three tiers beat one pile
The reason to split it up is that it protects you from your own emotions. Say the price jumps to $20 and I sell some liquid; then I get greedy and start dissolving my short lock thinking I'll rebuy lower — and instead it runs to $50, and I'm glad I didn't sell everything at $20. When you've waited a long time to sell, it's easy to get excited and unload too early. A third liquid, a third in a short lock, and a third locked indefinitely means you can take some profit, keep earning, and still hold a real position through a run to $100 and beyond — which is exactly why I think ICP can pump to $100 at any time.
My target is to build each bag up to around 3,000 ICP — 3,000 indefinite, 3,000 short-locked, 3,000 liquid — and then I'm set. None of this is financial advice. For more on the Internet Computer, watch my ICP playlist here.