I’m not even sure that’s the case. You have to pay taxes whether received as BTC or USD, but if he received cash and then had to buy it, it would be on an after tax basis. I have no idea.
There may be some tax benefit to it.
Hoping to be like 50 Cent
www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/01/26/50-cent-forgot-he-had-bitcoin-now-its-worth-over-7-million.html