An electronics engineer from South Africa has deeply regretted a decision to erase a document containing keys to his Bitcoin (BTC) wealth. The now inaccessible Bitcoin wallet had 20 BTCs worth over $900K at the current exchange rates.

As reported by Mybroadband, a South African media outlet, the engineer is only 24 years old and uses the alias, Mark Michaels. According to the publication, Michaels entered the BTC mining scene after reading about it “on the internet.”

At the time, the engineer was in seventh grade, and the leading cryptocurrency was worth far less than a dollar at $0.08.

Explaining how he got access to a computer at such an early stage, Michaels said they “had a home computer” which their parents would allow them to use but under supervision.

The engineer later built his own computer that was powered by an “AMD X3 processor and 512 MB of RAM.” After a few other upgrades, including using a dedicated card from Nvidia, GeForce GTS 250, he used the machine as a Bitcoin mining rig.

However, the young engineer noted that he doesn’t remember how much time the mining process took. Unfortunately, since the cryptocurrency was in its early stages, there were no trading avenues.

Michaels’s Mined Bitcoin “Was Practically Worthless”

As such, Michaels lost value of his stash of 20 Bitcoins. The engineer noted that he “got bored of it” because the mining process minced every power out of his computer, and he “couldn’t do much” with the machine “while it was busy.” After waiting for it to finish, the final product “was practically worthless.”

Seven years after mining the coins, the price of the leading crypto rose to $1K per coin, and Michaels tried to gain entry to his wallet. In the recovery attempt, the engineer collected “all the hard drives, memory sticks, CDs, and DVDs in the house” and perused through each one of them.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t lucky after seven days of looking. Apart from going through the storage devices, Michaels also attempted to recover deleted data from his “main hard drive” but to no avail.

Interestingly, after the failed attempts, the South African electronics engineer made peace with himself. He added that he was not in it for the money.

Notably, Michael seems to have now entered the cryptocurrency space for the money. According to the South African media outlet, the engineer holds small amounts of cryptocurrencies and mines the second-largest cryptocurrency.

Beware of A BTC Trading Company Promising 400% ROI in Less Than 24 Hours, CMA Tells Kenyans

As Michaels makes conservative crypto investments, Capital Markets Authority, a Kenyan investments watchdog, has cautioned Kenyans from investing with Fxbitinvest, a firm dealing with BTC trading. According to the financial watchdog, the firm is promising unrealistic and mouth-watering ROI to lure investors.

In a statement, the CMA observed that the Bitcoin trading company offers an ROI (return on investment) of up to 400 percent in less than 24 hours. Notably, the regulator disclosed two paybill numbers used. According to CMA, the numbers are registered under “CRYPTO FX INVESTMENT [and] FXBITINVEST.”

The regulator also identified three persons behind the company. Two of the named, Hassan Juma and Geoffrey Koome, are Kenyans, while the third is “an anonymous director (domiciled in North America).”

In its cautionary statement, the regulator urged those who have already fallen victim to “report to the nearest Police Station.” However, to prove their claims, they’ll need to provide documents such as the national identity card and “bank deposit slip or Mpesa statement.”

PBoC Fights Illegal Cryptocurrency Trading in Shenzhen

More than lodging their claims with the police, defrauded investors can directly engage the Capital Markets Authority through the regulator’s complaints portal.

Apart from Kenya, China has taken the fight against illegal crypto trading to Shenzhen city. According to reports, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank, has closed more than ten firms suspected of facilitating illegal activities involving cryptocurrencies.

The reports also indicated that PBoC has pinpointed a website adverting oversees deposits and foreign exchange against the law.

Interestingly, the Chinese central bank has launched a program to educate Shenzhen residents on how to operate within existing financial laws. The move by PBoC is the latest in the country’s decision to drive out cryptocurrency-related activities, including Bitcoin mining and trading.