Zcash miner Fortitude Mining Holdings will go public on Nasdaq through a reverse merger with medical technology company HeartSciences, bypassing a traditional IPO. The all-stock deal, announced Tuesday, will see Fortitude's management take control of the combined entity, which will trade under the ticker TUDE pending regulatory approval. Existing HeartSciences shareholders will retain a minority stake.
Deal structure and rationale
The transaction merges two unrelated businesses: Fortitude, which mines digital assets, and HeartSciences, which develops AI-enabled cardiac diagnostics. For Fortitude, the merger provides a direct path to public markets without the costs and scrutiny of an IPO. HeartSciences CEO Andrew Simpson said the deal frees the company from "the constant cycle of raising capital" while offering what it sees as the best route for shareholders.
HeartSciences' healthcare unit will continue operating under Simpson's leadership after the merger. The structure mirrors other crypto companies that reached public markets via mergers, such as Bitcoin miner Core Scientific's SPAC deal in 2022 and Cipher Mining's similar transaction.
Financial context
HeartSciences has yet to generate meaningful commercial revenue and reported a net loss of $8.77 million in fiscal 2025, widening from $6.61 million a year earlier. Despite losses, it launched its MyoVista Insights software platform in fiscal 2025. Fortitude, as a private firm, has disclosed limited financials, but said it had scaled annualized Zcash production to 157,000 ZEC as of May 31. ZEC traded at about $413 at the time of publication, giving the token a market cap of $6.92 billion.
Shares of HeartSciences, still trading under HSCS, surged as much as 91% on Tuesday following the announcement.