Fortitude Mining Holdings is seeking priority access to as much as $100 million of unreleased Zcash mining equipment from BITMAIN Technologies, using a planned $20 million ZEC-denominated borrowing from Digital Currency Group to fund the required deposit.
The arrangement is set out in a non-binding letter of intent, meaning the companies have outlined proposed commercial terms but have not yet disclosed a final purchase agreement. Fortitude said the deal would reserve priority allocation of BITMAIN’s next-generation Zcash miners, with deliveries expected to begin in the second quarter of 2027.
The proposed order would require Fortitude to place a refundable deposit equal to 20% of the maximum commitment. At the full $100 million allocation, that deposit would total $20 million. Fortitude said it expects to draw that amount this week under its credit facility with Digital Currency Group, which is expected to provide the financing in ZEC rather than U.S. dollars.
That structure would leave Fortitude exposed to movements in the ZEC price between the loan drawdown, equipment payments and eventual repayment. It also aligns the company’s financing more closely with the asset generated by its mining fleet, though the final economics will depend heavily on the unreleased machines’ power consumption, purchase price and delivered hashrate.
Planned order extends Fortitude’s expansion
The letter of intent follows a series of capacity additions by Fortitude, which was spun out of Digital Currency Group’s Foundry self-mining operation in January 2025.
Fortitude said it currently operates approximately 4.7 gigasolutions per second, or GSol/s, of Equihash hashrate. Equihash is the proof-of-work algorithm used by Zcash. A higher hashrate gives a miner a larger share of the network’s total computing power and, in turn, a greater chance of earning block rewards.
The company also said it has secured more than 60 megawatts of contracted power capacity across seven locations in South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas and New York. Power availability is central to the economics of proof-of-work mining, particularly for a company planning deployments years ahead of the expected hardware delivery date.
In July, Fortitude agreed to purchase 9,000 BITMAIN Antminer Z15 Pro machines for roughly $31.5 million. The company said those units would add 7.56 GSol/s of Equihash capacity. Combined with its existing 4.7 GSol/s operation, the previously disclosed fleet would represent more than 12 GSol/s before accounting for any later equipment retirements, operating changes or the proposed next-generation allocation.
The proposed $100 million reservation is therefore much larger than Fortitude’s July purchase, and its scale suggests the company is attempting to secure a place in the production queue before BITMAIN releases detailed commercial specifications for the new hardware.
Credit line rises to $70 million
Fortitude has increased its borrowing facility with Digital Currency Group to $70 million from $50 million, according to the company. It reported approximately $42.7 million of remaining capacity under that facility.
A $20 million draw would use nearly half of the reported remaining borrowing headroom, leaving less flexibility for other spending unless the credit line is expanded again, operating cash flow increases, or Fortitude obtains outside financing. The company has not disclosed final terms for the prospective equipment purchase, including the number of miners it may receive, their efficiency, the payment schedule beyond the deposit, or conditions attached to the priority allocation.
Those missing commercial details will determine whether the headline $100 million figure translates into a substantially larger operating fleet. Mining hardware orders can be affected by design changes, delivery schedules, component availability and changes in network conditions before machines reach customer sites.
A refundable deposit reduces the risk that Fortitude permanently loses the full $20 million if the transaction does not proceed under its expected terms. But refundable does not automatically mean immediately recoverable in every circumstance; timing and conditions for any refund would be governed by the eventual agreement.
Early allocation can shape mining economics
Priority access to new machines can matter in Zcash mining because hardware efficiency often determines whether a miner can sustain operations through changes in token prices, electricity costs and network competition. If newer equipment produces more solutions per watt than existing models, operators with access to it could lower their energy cost per unit of hashrate or expand output within the same power footprint.
Fortitude’s existing power contracts give it potential locations for such an expansion, but the company will need to match future machine specifications with the electrical infrastructure and cooling capacity at each site. The proposed deliveries are not expected until the second quarter of 2027, leaving a long period in which Zcash network hashrate, mining difficulty and equipment technology could change.
The deal also points to a more concentrated competition for specialized Equihash hardware. Large operators able to place sizable deposits and secure multi-site power capacity can negotiate earlier allocations, while smaller miners may have to rely on existing-generation machines, secondary-market supply or later manufacturer production runs.
Zcash traded above $1,370 on Tuesday, according to the information provided by Fortitude, though mining decisions based on a 2027 delivery schedule cannot be assessed from short-term token moves alone. Revenue from Zcash mining depends on block rewards, transaction-fee income, the network’s total hashrate, electricity costs and the value of ZEC when mined coins are sold or held.
Digital Currency Group’s expected role as lender adds another link between Fortitude’s equipment expansion and its former parent organization. With the credit facility now at $70 million and a proposed $20 million ZEC draw for the deposit, Fortitude is using affiliated financing to reserve capacity well before the hardware enters commercial circulation.
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