Fortitude Names Jaime Leverton CEO Amid Zcash Expansion Plans

Fortitude Mining Holdings has named Jaime Leverton as its new CEO, effective September 21. Leverton takes over from Andrea Childs, who will become Chief Operating Officer. The change comes ahead of a planned public listing through a deal with Nasdaq-listed HeartSciences (HSCS), which is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Leverton brings significant experience to the role, having previously led institutional digital-asset manager ReserveOne and serving as CEO of bitcoin miner Hut 8. At Hut 8, she oversaw a merger with US Bitcoin Corp. and the company's transition from Canadian to U.S.-domiciled status.

Fortitude is expanding its exposure to Zcash (ZEC), which has seen a remarkable 2,000% increase in value over the past year. The miner operates more than 60 megawatts of power capacity across seven sites and mined 72,696 ZEC during the first half of this year.

The company's valuation is expected to be at least $400 million based on HeartSciences' current share price and the shares issued to Fortitude owner Digital Currency Group and HeartSciences' preferred shareholders. Upon closing, the combined company will adopt the Fortitude name and trade on Nasdaq under the ticker 'TUDE'.