If you still can be able to buy more Bitcoins when the price dips then that only shows that you are not poor yet. In investing we are being told that we should only invest what we can afford to lose. I think majority of the people follow this, and then when Bitcoin crash one can still be able to hold and wait for a recovery so we are not technically a loser. In the case of the OP's friend, it looks like he invest on a shitty or scammy project.

It's unlikely that he can recover even if he choose to hold and not sell. That is not the fault of Bitcoin's crash anymore, and even if let say Bitcoin pumps, the same faith are still going to experience with those types of projects.