Despite a rough past couple of weeks for Zcash, Digital Currency Group founder and CEO Barry Silbert hasn't lost faith in the privacy-focused blockchain network.
"We believe Zcash represents one of the most compelling opportunities in digital assets," Silbert said Tuesday as part of an announcement that Zcash (ZEC) miner Fortitude Mining, a DCG subsidiary, wants to merge with a small-cap Nasdaq stock, HeartSciences Inc.
Fortitude and HeartSciences said they have entered into a definitive merger agreement to combine the two companies. HeartSciences is a small-cap medical technology company that trades on the Nasdaq. Its shares rose about 60% in early trading on Tuesday and closed at $2.70 per share, an increase of about 55%.
Fortitude CEO Andrea Childs said the business combination — which the two companies hope to close in the second half of this year — has nothing to do with business synergies; it's about funding future growth.
"Going public, we expect it's going to provide us with the flexibility and access to capital to really accelerate our core strategies, which is our venture mining platform, and again, primarily today that's Zcash," Childs told The Block. "And then continue to pursue high return opportunities on the power portfolio side as well."
