Zcash miner Fortitude taps former Hut 8 CEO to lead ahead of public listing

Fortitude Mining has appointed Jaime Leverton, formerly CEO of Bitcoin miner Hut 8, as its chief executive, with the leadership change taking effect Sept. 21. Current CEO Andrea Childs will shift into the chief operating officer role. The move comes as Fortitude prepares to complete a planned business combination with HeartSciences that would bring the company to the public markets.

The miner reported it produced 72,696 ZEC in the first half of 2026, which the company said represented roughly 28% of Zcash network production during that period. Fortitude posted $20.9 million in revenue for the second quarter of 2026 and operates more than 60 megawatts of power capacity across seven sites in South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas and New York.

In July, Fortitude agreed to buy 9,000 Bitmain Antminer Z15 Pro units, expected to add 7.56 GSol/s of Equihash hashrate, with shipments anticipated in the fourth quarter. The company, which has mined ZEC since 2019 and launched as a vertically integrated mining platform in 2025, is wholly owned by Digital Currency Group.

Fortitude announced the proposed combination with HeartSciences in June; the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 and, subject to regulatory approvals, the combined company would trade on Nasdaq under the ticker TUDE. The leadership appointment and hardware expansion come amid renewed market interest in Zcash, which has seen significant price gains in recent months following disclosed investment and support from parties including Paradigm.