Digital Currency Group’s Zcash-focused mining arm just flipped the switch on its first purpose-built facility in Grand Island, Nebraska, marking the beginning of what could become the most ambitious altcoin mining expansion in the US.

Fortitude Mining, spun off from DCG’s Foundry unit back in January 2025, is running 48 megawatts of capacity across six sites. The company wants to nearly double that to 80 MW by the end of 2026.

The greenfield play and expansion roadmap

The Nebraska site is what the industry calls a “greenfield” facility, meaning it was built from scratch rather than retrofitted from an existing data center or warehouse. The initial lease runs at $18,000 per year with 3% annual increases.

Fortitude currently operates across four states: South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, and New York.

The jump from 48 MW to 80 MW by year-end 2026 represents roughly 67% capacity growth in under a year.

The Nasdaq backdoor

Rather than pursuing a traditional IPO, Fortitude is merging with HeartSciences Inc., a Nasdaq-listed company trading under the ticker HSCS. The all-stock deal has been unanimously approved by both boards and is expected to close around June 23, 2026.

The ownership math after the merger is striking. DCG is projected to hold approximately 95% of the combined entity.

Fortitude reported $90 million in revenue for 2025.

The Zcash bet

Fortitude’s financial projections are heavily tethered to the price of ZEC, the native token of the Zcash network.

At a ZEC price of $500, the company forecasts adjusted EBITDA exceeding $50 million. If ZEC hits $1,000, that number jumps past $120 million.

Fortitude also mines Bitcoin alongside Zcash. Most publicly traded miners, from Marathon Digital to Riot Platforms to CleanSpark, are almost exclusively Bitcoin operations. Fortitude would be a rare publicly listed miner with significant altcoin exposure.

Fortitude describes itself as a vertically integrated Proof of Work mining platform, meaning it controls multiple layers of the mining stack rather than outsourcing key functions.

The risk profile includes Zcash’s relatively small market capitalization compared to Bitcoin, lower liquidity and higher volatility, persistent regulatory scrutiny of privacy coins, and several exchanges having delisted ZEC in certain jurisdictions over compliance concerns. DCG’s 95% ownership stake means the public float will be thin, potentially creating liquidity challenges for the stock itself.