Fortitude Mining Holdings, a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group (DCG) and a dedicated Zcash (ZEC) miner, is set to enter the public markets through an all-stock merger with Nasdaq-listed medical technology firm HeartSciences Inc. The definitive agreement, announced Tuesday, will see HeartSciences shares surge as much as 91% during the session, closing up 55% to $2.70 per share. The combined company will operate under the Fortitude name and trade on Nasdaq with the ticker symbol TUDE, subject to regulatory approval.
The merger provides Fortitude with a path to public equity without a traditional initial public offering (IPO). Fortitude CEO Andrea Childs stressed that the deal is about funding future growth, not business synergies. "Going public, we expect it's going to provide us with the flexibility and access to capital to really accelerate our core strategies, which is our venture mining platform, and again, primarily today that's Zcash," Childs told The Block. DCG will own approximately 95% of the new entity, with existing HeartSciences shareholders retaining a minority stake and HeartSciences continuing its healthcare operations under CEO Andrew Simpson.
The move comes amid renewed attention on privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. DCG founder Barry Silbert reiterated his bullish stance, stating, "We believe Zcash represents one of the most compelling opportunities in digital assets." Childs added that Fortitude sees Zcash's potential as roughly 10% of Bitcoin's total market cap — a bet Silbert himself has embraced, forecasting that privacy coins could capture 5% to 10% of Bitcoin's valuation in the coming years. At current levels, Zcash's market cap sits at about $7 billion versus Bitcoin's $1.25 trillion.
The transaction also follows a volatile period for ZEC. Earlier this month, a counterfeiting vulnerability caused a more than 60% price crash, though Zcash recovered partially after an emergency update. ZEC was trading around $415.83, down 7% on the day. Despite the setback, Fortitude disclosed annualized production of 157,000 Zcash as of May 31 and did not rule out the possibility of holding more ZEC on its balance sheet in the future. Childs emphasized that Fortitude is not a digital asset treasury company like those that emerged during the DAT boom, but an operating miner with a long-term focus on privacy-preserving blockchain technology.
