Fortitude Secures Priority Access to BITMAIN’s Next-Gen Zcash Mining Equipment

Fortitude Mining Holdings has taken a major step to expand its Zcash mining operations, signing a letter of intent with BITMAIN Technologies for priority access to the company’s upcoming next-generation Zcash (ZEC) mining equipment. The hardware has not yet been commercially released, but Fortitude aims to secure its supply as soon as it becomes available. CEO Jaime Leverton emphasized that this move, combined with the company’s existing infrastructure and a previous order for 9,000 Antminer Z15 Pro machines, positions Fortitude to lead the market with cutting-edge mining hardware.

The company, which was spun out of DCG’s Foundry self-mining operation in January 2025, has shifted its focus to a broader venture-mining platform centered on Zcash. Fortitude currently operates about 4.7 GSol/s of Equihash hashrate and has over 60 MW of contracted power capacity across seven sites in South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, and New York. In July, it agreed to purchase 9,000 Antminer Z15 Pro machines for approximately $31.5 million, adding 7.56 GSol/s of capacity.

To support its expansion, Fortitude increased its credit facility with parent Digital Currency Group from $50 million to $70 million, leaving about $42.7 million in remaining borrowing capacity. The letter of intent requires a refundable deposit equal to 20% of the commitment, or $20 million, which Fortitude plans to draw this week. DCG is expected to fund the borrowing in ZEC.

Meanwhile, Zcash traded above $1,370 on Tuesday, up 3.6% over 24 hours. Fortitude has remained bullish on the asset, with DCG founder Barry Silbert previously arguing that Zcash could eventually capture 5% to 10% of bitcoin’s market cap.