Zcash miner Fortitude merges with HeartSciences to list on Nasdaq, becoming publicly traded

Fortitude, a mining firm focused on Zcash (ZEC), has landed a Nasdaq listing through an all-stock merger with HeartSciences, the companies announced Wednesday.

The deal flips Fortitude from a private entity into a publicly traded company without a traditional initial public offering. HeartSciences, a healthcare diagnostics firm, will keep its existing business lines as a separate division. Its current shareholders retain a minority stake in the combined company.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the all-stock structure means no cash changed hands. Fortitude's management will control the public entity. The new ticker symbol has not yet been released.

For Zcash, the listing adds a publicly traded proxy to an ecosystem that has mostly relied on over-the-counter mining pools and private funds. Fortitude is one of the larger Zcash miners by hash rate, though exact production figures were not provided in the announcement.

The move follows a broader trend of crypto mining companies seeking stock exchange listings to access capital markets. Rivals in the Bitcoin mining space – such as Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital – have been listed for years. Zcash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, has a smaller market cap and lower institutional visibility.

HeartSciences had been listed on Nasdaq since 2022 but struggled with liquidity. The merger gives its shareholders a stake in a crypto mining operation while keeping exposure to the healthcare sector. Fortitude gains the regulatory and reporting infrastructure of a US exchange.

Trading is expected to start within the next two weeks, pending customary closing conditions. Investors tracking Zcash should watch for the ticker symbol and Fortitude's first quarterly filing to gauge hash rate, revenue, and any dilution from the merger structure.