Fortitude Mining upsizes credit facility to $50M for Zcash expansion
In brief
- Fortitude expanded credit facility by $24M to $50M total on September 23, 2026
- Company plans to purchase 9,000 Bitmain Antminer Z15 Pro ASIC miners for Zcash mining
- Fortitude has crossed 60 MW of installed capacity across U.S. mining sites
- Facility will be drawn in ZEC rather than USD, tying debt cost to mined asset
- Business combination with HeartSciences (HSCS) would take Fortitude public as TUDE
Capital deployment and equipment strategy
Fortitude Mining Holdings has upsized its credit facility from $26 million to $50 million, adding $24 million in fresh borrowing capacity. The headline use of proceeds is straightforward: a purchase of 9,000 Bitmain Antminer Z15 Pro ASIC miners. These machines are engineered to mine Zcash, a proof-of-work coin running on the Equihash algorithm.
The company's existing footprint is substantial. Fortitude has already crossed 60 megawatts of installed capacity across its U.S. sites, with recent additions of 12 MW in Grand Island, Nebraska, and another 12.5 MW in Prosser, Nebraska. Roughly $31 million of the expanded facility remains undrawn and available for future deployment.
Structural innovation in debt terms
The credit facility carries distinctive terms. The original facility was put in place on June 1, 2026, carrying an 11% interest rate and a maturity date of June 2028. More notably, Fortitude is planning to draw the facility in ZEC rather than dollars, a structurally interesting choice that ties its cost of capital directly to the asset it mines.
This approach creates a natural hedge. If ZEC prices rise, the loan value in dollar terms increases, but so does the value of what the company is producing. The facility is secured against acquired equipment and select real estate, and the amendment outlines the potential for additional ZEC-denominated draws through fiscal year 2027.
Path to public markets
Fortitude has signaled ambitions beyond mining operations alone. The company has announced plans for a business combination with HeartSciences Inc., a Nasdaq-listed company trading under the ticker HSCS. If completed, this transaction would take Fortitude public under the new ticker symbol TUDE.
Fortitude has set a target of roughly $40 per ZEC mined at an optimized power rate near $0.045 per kilowatt-hour. That operational efficiency metric underscores the company's focus on margin-positive mining in a competitive landscape. The expanded credit facility and aggressive equipment purchases position Fortitude to scale production ahead of a potential public listing.
