A desperate bitcoin miner was electrocuted while trying to power up his computer to collect more cryptocurrency.
Danai Makmek, 26, was restless after his sprawling crypto mining machine cut out and the hard drive would not turn back on in Thailand on Tuesday.
The panic-stricken crypto fanatic told his older brother about the broken equipment and begged for help fixing it – fearing he could lose valuable mining time.
His brother Apiwat Makmek said that he would go with him the next day to a computer repair technician and fire up the system, which was capable of earning thousands of dollars worth of bitcoin each week.
However, Apiwat said his brother was worried and could not risk the machine being broken for a day so he attempted to fix it on his own.
Tragically, the tech enthusiast is believed to have been killed after the bitcoin mining computer exploded and electrocuted him.
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Footage from the dead man’s room shows the tangled mess of cables and drives that he used for his digital currency production.
His devastated brother said: “I warned him but he could not wait. I think he panicked and stayed up for the whole night trying to fix it.
“The computer was modified to give it more power. I do not think it was safe but my brother had built it himself for bitcoin mining, which he really liked.”
Apiwat found his brother dead when he and a hired technician went to Danai’s room on Wednesday morning, where they found the shirtless man lying slumped over his bitcoin set-up wearing only a pair of blue shorts.
He immediately called emergency services who tried to revive the bitcoin miner but without success. The police also arrived at the scene to investigate.
Police Colonel Santi Shoosheud said there were no signs of forced entry into the man’s room and had no suspicious injuries so they believe that Danai was electrocuted.
“We believe he attempted to fix the broken machine on his own and was electrocuted. We are still investigating the case but there was no forced entry nor suspicious injuries found so far,” he said.
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Bitcoin is a digital currency invented in 2009 that suddenly surged in popularity in 2017.
However, there are concerns that the amount of power used to mine bitcoins could be damaging the environment.
To earn one bitcoin, computers need to solve complex mathematical sums that require a large amount of power.
The larger your set up, the greater chance you have of finding a bitcoin, but also increasing your energy consumption.
Most mining is done in China thanks to cheap electricity costs.
In Russia two years ago, a man set his tower block alight when he illegally tapped into the electricity grid to run his crypto mining system. Thankfully, no died as a result.
In the UK, West Midlands officers raided a location they believe was a cannabis farm but found a labyrinth of bitcoin drives instead.
In this case suspicions had been raised over the huge volume of power being used on the premises, leading cops to initially think it was being used for drug production.
Police heard lots of people were visiting the unit throughout the day, with lots of wiring and ventilation ducts visible while locals say three men were behind the operation.
When police stormed the premises they discovered 100 powerful computers hooked up to a complex system.
West Midlands Police say the computers were illegally using thousands of pounds of electricity in order to mine bitcoin on a huge scale.
This story originally appeared on The Sun and is reproduced here with permission
