Author: Heart of Computing Power

When the price of the well-established privacy coin Zcash (ZEC) surged above $1500 each, the biggest gold digger behind it finally couldn't sit still.

At a time when Bitcoin mining companies are scrambling for power, the established giant in the crypto space, DCG, quietly pushed another mining business towards the gates of the US stock market.

In January 2025, DCG spun off the self-mining business of its subsidiary Foundry and established a wholly-owned subsidiary called Fortitude Mining.

This company is not competing head-on with Bitcoin, but instead focuses on the well-known privacy-focused token ZEC, which is based on proof of work (PoW).

By the first half of 2026, the amount of ZEC mined by this company accounted for about 28% of the total network output during the same period, and it is also planning a reverse merger that spans the fields of medical AI and crypto mining.

This is a typical rapid capital formation scenario in the US stock market.

Using experienced operators, ready shell resources, and solid mining machine accounts, they are swapping for a ticket to enter the secondary market.

1. Last Minute Leadership Change with a Listing Veteran

The goal is to ring the bell at Nasdaq, and the helm must understand the rules of the US stock market.

On September 17, 2026, Fortitude officially announced that Jaime Leverton would take over as CEO starting September 21.

The original CEO Andrea Childs stepped down to COO, specifically responsible for operating mines, the fleet of mining machines, and the heavy assets involved.

The logic behind this personnel change is very clear.

The newly appointed Leverton is an experienced operator in US mining companies; she previously led the large mining company Hut 8 and was instrumental in the cross-border merger with US Bitcoin Corp., with a deep understanding of capital operations in public companies.

Although in February 2024, Hut 8 abruptly replaced her as CEO, appointing Asher Genoot, the president from US Bitcoin Corp.

However, when it comes to pushing mining companies to Nasdaq and dealing with Wall Street institutions, she remains one of the few candidates with practical experience in the industry.

Let the technical founders manage the mining machines, and let the executives who understand capital operations handle the listing; DCG's goals are very clear.

2. Merging with an ECG AI Company for Listing

To list as quickly as possible, Fortitude opted for a reverse merger rather than the long queue of a traditional IPO.

On June 23, 2026, they announced a trading plan and reached a full stock merger agreement with Nasdaq-listed HeartSciences.

The absurdity lies in the business span of the two companies.

HeartSciences is a medical technology company specializing in ECG AI algorithms, while Fortitude is a pure token mining company.

The design of the transaction is straightforward.

After the merger, HeartSciences' original medical team will continue their medical work, but the company name will change to Fortitude Mining Group, and the application code for listing on Nasdaq will be "TUDE".

On a fully diluted basis, the parent company DCG will hold approximately 95% of the shares in the newly merged company.

This is akin to a mining company eyeing an existing golden location in the Nasdaq mall and, through equity swaps, taking over the entire store, hanging up its own sign, and directly opening for business.

What business the shell has is unimportant; getting that listing code is what matters.

3. Holding Nearly 30% of Production to Bet on Liquidation

In daring to rush into the secondary market with a medical shell, Fortitude showcases to investors its underlying production scale and cash flow data that have already been realized.

From a production capacity viewpoint, in the first half of 2026, the company mined a total of 72,696 ZEC, directly accounting for about 28% of ZEC's total network output during the same period.

Nearly one-third of the new output across the entire network rests in this company's hands.

In terms of operational support, they have set up seven mining sites in South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, and New York, with a total power combination exceeding 60 megawatts.

To further enhance their advantage, the company signed a procurement agreement with Bitmain for 9,000 Antminer Z15 Pro machines in May 2026, announced at the end of July, with a unit price of $3,499, totaling about $31.5 million, to be delivered in two batches in October and November.

Looking at the financial figures for the second quarter of 2026.

The company achieved a revenue of $20.9 million, with a net loss of $9.5 million on the books, but this includes a $10.3 million impairment on mining machines and another $5.6 million in depreciation.

If those non-cash gains and losses are excluded, the adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) is actually a positive $8.5 million.

And capital is not gathering to bet at this time by mere whim.

The KuPool technical team, which developed and operated the world's largest Zcash mining pool, stated in an interview that the massive influx of North American capital is pushing ZEC's computing power growth, which is not just an established fact but also a core trend for the industry moving forward.

The KuPool team revealed that significant changes are coming to the initial block settings of the ZEC chain:

The highly anticipated Nu7 upgrade proposal for Zcash will be officially implemented on November 5.

At that time, the block generation time for ZEC will be drastically compressed from the original 75 seconds to 25 seconds.

The daily number of blocks produced across the network will increase significantly, the speed of on-chain transaction packaging will double, and the transfer experience for end users will be significantly improved.

However, a tripling of block generation speed poses extremely stringent technical challenges for the underlying mining pool infrastructure.

It is understood that KuPool not only quickly adapted to support the new Zcash client but also invested heavily in original research for optimizing the underlying network, significantly reducing the possible computing power delays and block loss caused by Zcash's unique network environment, thereby ensuring that miners maintain stable high returns during high concurrency periods.

At a time when capital is rapidly raising the threshold of computing power, this deep foundation of old mining pool technology in network infrastructure is becoming a key part of supporting the stable operation of the entire computing power ecosystem.

However, cash flow is running, and machines are continuously roaring.

But the standing point of this business model is entirely tied to the secondary market price of the individual Zcash token.

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Packing a heavy asset mining farm into an existing public company shell is not a new script in the US stock market.

From early Bitcoin miners to today's vertically specialized mining companies, capital has been seeking new story carriers.

Yet, under the spotlight of Nasdaq, after the story is told, all valuations ultimately have to return to the cycle pull between mining machine depreciation and token prices.

When the clamor of ringing the bell passes, the real gold and silver in the secondary market will always test its real foundation against cyclical fluctuations.

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