Fortitude Mining Holdings and Heartsciences have agreed to an all-stock business combination that will bring a Digital Currency Group-owned Zcash (ZEC) mining platform to the Nasdaq Capital Market. The combined company is set to trade under the proposed ticker TUDE.
The all-stock deal
The merger is structured as a stock-for-stock transaction. Heartsciences shareholders will need to approve the deal, and the companies expect to close in the second half of 2026. No cash is changing hands. Fortitude Mining will become the surviving entity, but it's Heartsciences — a company currently listed on the Nasdaq — that provides the public listing vehicle.
A mining platform for Zcash
The platform being listed is owned by DCG, the crypto conglomerate behind Grayscale and Genesis. It mines Zcash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that uses zero-knowledge proofs. The move puts a DCG-controlled mining operation on a major U.S. exchange, giving retail investors a way to bet on Zcash mining without buying the token directly.
Zcash has a smaller market cap than Bitcoin or Ethereum, but its focus on privacy has kept it alive through multiple crypto cycles. DCG has held the mining platform for years; now it's taking it public through a reverse merger.
Path to listing
The Nasdaq listing is the endgame. Heartsciences, a medical diagnostics firm, will effectively be transformed into a crypto mining company. That kind of pivot isn't new — several biotech and tech shells have been used to take crypto miners public. The ticker TUDE is a nod to the platform's roots, though the companies didn't explain the choice.
The deal still faces regulatory checks and the shareholder vote. If it goes through, Fortitude Mining will inherit Heartsciences' Nasdaq listing without a traditional IPO.
Both companies are working through the customary closing conditions. Shareholders will vote before the second half of 2026 deadline. Until then, the Zcash mining platform stays under DCG's roof — and the ticker TUDE remains a proposal, not a fact.
