An Bitcoin miner was killed after being electrocuted while trying to power up his computer system 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 Chonburi province, central Thailand on July 20.

The panic-stricken crypto fanatic told his older brother about the broken rig 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 was killed after the Bitcoin (BTC) mining computer exploded and electrocuted him. He is believed to be the first person in the world killed by mining Bitcoin - a controversial process that uses high amounts of electricity to power the machines.

Footage from the dead man’s room shows the tangled mess of cables and drives that he used for his digital currency production.

Speaking today, 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 said he found his brother dead this morning (July 21) when he and a hired technician went to Danai’s room where they found the shirtless man lying slumped over his Bitcoin set-up wearing only a pair of bloue shorts.

The brother called the 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.

He said: ‘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.’

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 to the environment.

Controversial South African computer programmer Elon Musk said that he would no longer accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for Tesla cars.