Fortitude Surpasses 60 MW Power Milestone With Nebraska Data Center Acquisition
In brief
- Fortitude acquired 12.5 MW data center in Prosser, Nebraska for $4.7 million.
- Acquisition pushed Fortitude's total owned power portfolio beyond 60 MW.
- Silbert stated Zcash and Bittensor could achieve significant returns relative to Bitcoin.
- Fortitude finalizing merger with HeartSciences to become first publicly traded institutional Zcash mining platform.
The Fortitude Expansion
Fortitude's new 12.5 MW data center in Prosser, Nebraska represents a significant step in the company's infrastructure buildout for Zcash mining. The facility cost approximately $4.7 million and became the company's third location in Nebraska. With this acquisition, Fortitude now operates more than 60 MW of owned power capacity.
The expansion underscores Silbert's strategic focus on privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. He has stated that Bitcoin has lost its anonymity due to analytics services such as Chainalysis, a view that informs his allocation strategy across DCG's portfolio.
Investment Thesis and Privacy Positioning
Silbert has stated that Zcash and Bittensor could achieve returns that Bitcoin cannot. He cites the potential for significant upside if privacy becomes institutionalized. According to his estimates, up to 10% of Bitcoin liquidity, approximately $128 billion, will flow into privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. However, this 10% figure is Silbert's personal estimate and has not been independently validated by market research firms or institutional analysts.
Silbert calls financial privacy a fundamental right and describes it as his next large asymmetric bet in the crypto industry. Privacy-coin adoption remains limited relative to Bitcoin, and Silbert's thesis depends on a significant shift in institutional and regulatory attitudes toward anonymity-focused protocols.
The Public Markets Play
Fortitude is finalizing a merger with publicly traded medical technology company HeartSciences (HSCS) in an all-stock transaction. The preliminary proxy statement is already under review by the SEC. Silbert plans to close the merger in the second half of 2026 and change the ticker to TUDE.
The transaction would list the first publicly traded institutional Zcash mining platform in history on Nasdaq. This move signals Silbert's confidence in the long-term viability of privacy-focused mining operations and his belief that institutional capital will eventually seek exposure to Zcash infrastructure.
