Fortitude Names Leverton CEO Ahead of Nasdaq Merger

CoinDesk reported that Fortitude Mining Holdings appointed former Hut 8 chief Jaime Leverton as its new CEO. The Zcash-focused miner disclosed the leadership change in a press release coinciding with preparations for a planned Nasdaq listing.

Leverton assumes the role on September 21, succeeding Andrea Childs, who will move to the position of chief operating officer. The company is seeking a public listing via a proposed combination with Nasdaq-listed HeartSciences. Announced in June, the transaction is slated to conclude in the fourth quarter.

With the combined entity’s value estimated at a minimum of $400 million based on HeartSciences’ share price and allocations to Digital Currency Group and preferred shareholders, it will trade under the ticker TUDE.

For the second quarter, the firm disclosed earnings of $20.9 million. Between January and June, it extracted 72,696 ZEC, accounting for roughly 28% of total network output. The operation maintains over 60 megawatts of energy infrastructure distributed among seven facilities in South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, and New York.

“Fortitude is taking a differentiated approach to mining,” Leverton stated in the announcement. The organization remains entirely under the ownership of Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group.