system
A chat on subreddit /r/wallstreetbets
human
Because he wants to buy puts in his retirement account (and not pay taxes on the potential gains on said puts).  Ain't no way to do that in a 401K. 
  
 *EDIT:* looks like all them finance goons who manage 401K and collect their juicy free-ride 1% fees for basically just using index funds that a monkey could use are getting cranky about people suggesting others taking their money elsewhere.

gpt
True, but if he's going to convert his 401k to an IRA, assuming he can even take a non-hardship withdrawal, he would put it in a traditional IRA, not a Roth. Contributions to a Roth IRA are taxable upfront. Traditional IRA is taxed at withdrawal.