Zcash miner Fortitude gets Nasdaq listing via HeartSciences merger

Zcash miner Fortitude Mining Holdings is set to merge with medical technology company HeartSciences in a deal that will allow Fortitude to become publicly traded without pursuing a traditional initial public offering.

The all-stock transaction announced Tuesday will see Fortitude’s management team assume control of the combined company, which will operate under the Fortitude name and is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol TUDE, subject to regulatory approval. Existing HeartSciences shareholders will retain a minority ownership stake.

HeartSciences CEO Andrew Simpson hinted at the rationale behind the transaction, saying it would free the company from “the constant cycle of raising capital” while providing what it believes is the best path forward for shareholders.

While the combination brings together two unrelated businesses — Fortitude mines digital assets, while HeartSciences develops AI-enabled cardiac diagnostics — the deal is effectively a reverse merger that gives Fortitude access to the public markets through an existing Nasdaq-listed company. For HeartSciences, which has faced ongoing capital needs, the transaction offers shareholders continued exposure to a publicly traded business while allowing its healthcare unit to continue operating under Simpson’s leadership.

The structure is similar to other crypto companies that have reached the public markets through mergers rather than traditional IPOs. For example, Bitcoin miner Core Scientific listed via a SPAC merger in 2022, while Cipher Mining also went public through a SPAC transaction.

Shares of HeartSciences, which continue to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker HSCS pending completion of the transaction, rose as much as 91% on Tuesday, according to Google Finance data.

HeartSciences stock. Source: Google Finance

HeartSciences remained unprofitable before merger deal

HeartSciences has yet to achieve meaningful commercial revenue and has reported net losses for several consecutive years. According to MarketScreener, the company generated minimal revenue in fiscal 2025 while its net loss widened to $8.77 million from $6.61 million a year earlier.

Despite its financial challenges, HeartSciences advanced its product roadmap in fiscal 2025, launching its MyoVista Insights software platform, which is designed to modernize existing ECG management systems.

As a privately held company, Fortitude has disclosed little about its finances. However, it said it had scaled its annualized production to 157,000 Zcash ($ZEC) as of May 31. $ZEC was last trading at about $413 apiece, CoinMarketCap data showed at time of publication. That gave the token a market cap of $6.92 billion.

Related: Crypto Biz: Is AI the exit strategy for miners?