Bitcoin Miner Fatally Electrocuted by Faulty Homemade Rig

A 26-year-old Thai bitcoin miner has died while trying to power up his computer to generate more cryptocurrency.

Danai Makmek was electrocuted on July 20 in a failed attempt to reactivate a faulty hard drive. It’s believed his homemade rig exploded and a concurrent power surge killed the crypto enthusiast.

The body of Makmek, shirtless and clad only in a pair of blue shorts, was found slumped over his computer by his older brother, Apiwat, on the morning of July 21.

Time Is Money But Impatience Can Cost a Life

Two days previously, Danai had asked Apiwat for help to fix his ailing rig, fearing he could lose valuable mining time. Apiwat said he would accompany Danai to a computer repair shop but the latter decided he couldn’t wait and tried to fix the problem himself.

Apiwat Makmek said his brother could not afford to miss a day’s mining, potentially worth thousands of dollars in bitcoin.

I warned him but he could not wait. I think he panicked and stayed up the whole night trying to fix it. The computer was modified to give it more power. I do not think it was safe …

Apiwat Makmek

Emergency services were called and unsuccessfully tried to revive Danai. Police Colonel Santi Shoosheud said there were no signs of forced entry into Danai’s room and that he had no suspicious injuries other than those directly related to his electrocution, which included third-degree burns.

Police Follow Hot Trail to Bitcoin Mining Operation

Two months ago, English police uncovered a bitcoin mining operation when their drone detected heat emanating from a warehouse in the West Midlands. Suspecting a cannabis farm, they were able to seize around 100 bitcoin mining devices running on stolen electricity. Fortunately, no one was electrocuted in this instance.

Meanwhile, a worldwide semiconductor shortage has been affecting crypto mining operations along with a host of related industries, specifically the production of computer components.