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Foundry is a decentralized development project aimed at empowering users through automated tools and multi-chain protocols (MCPs), simplifying workflows, and driving innovation.
Fortitude Appoints Former Hut 8 CEO Leverton to Lead NASDAQ Listing Plan
According to CoinDesk, Zcash mining company Fortitude Mining Holdings announced the appointment of former Hut 8 CEO Jaime Leverton as chief executive officer, who will officially take office on September 21. Outgoing CEO Andrea Childs will step into the role of chief operating officer. Leverton previously led Hut 8’s merger with US Bitcoin Corp and drove its transition to a U.S.-domestic operation. Fortitude plans to go public by merging with NASDAQ-listed HeartSciences (HSCS). Upon completion, the combined company’s ticker will change to “TUDE,” with the transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter and valuing the post-merger entity at at least $400 million. Spun off from Foundry in January 2025 by Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group, Fortitude currently operates over 60 megawatts of power capacity across South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, and New York. It mined 72,696 ZEC in the first half of the year, accounting for approximately 28% of the network’s total output during that period, while Q2 revenue reached $20.9 million.
Moonshot AI to Open Source 2.8-Trillion-Parameter Kimi K3 Weights, Chinese Open-Weight Model Token Share Rises to 68%
Chinese AI startup Moonshot AI will release the model weights of its high-performance model, Kimi K3. Developers can download the model, modify it for various purposes, and run it in their own data centers or cloud environments.Kimi K3 boasts 2.8 trillion parameters and a 1 million token context window, enabling it to process large-scale documents and codebases in a single pass. Moonshot AI plans to later publish a technical report detailing the model's architecture, training methodology, and performance evaluation results.Following the release of Kimi K3, Moonshot AI's daily revenue is reported to have increased by at least 6 times. The company is reportedly advancing a new round of fundraising at a $50 billion valuation and is considering a Hong Kong listing as early as this year.According to Bloomberg Intelligence, following the release of Kimi K3 and Z.AI's GLM-5.2, the share of Chinese open-weight models in overall token usage has risen to 68%. Services like AWS Bedrock, Microsoft Azure Foundry, and Google Vertex AI currently do not offer Chinese open-weight models such as Kimi K3 and GLM-5.2.
AI startup CuspAI completes nearly $500 million financing round and announces establishment of AI Material Foundry Alliance
According to Bloomberg, UK startup CuspAI, founded just two years ago, has raised nearly $500 million, with its core bet being the use of artificial intelligence to improve semiconductor production processes. On Monday, CuspAI announced the establishment of the "AI Materials Foundry," an alliance that brings together more than 48 tech companies, industrial companies, and research institutions, with members including NVIDIA, Meta, and Hyundai Motor Group.
Microsoft Expands AI Partnership with Mistral, Signs Multi-Billion Dollar European AI Infrastructure Agreement
Odaily, July 21 - Microsoft and French AI startup Mistral AI announced an expansion of their strategic partnership on July 21, signing a multi-billion dollar agreement centered on European AI infrastructure to enhance AI computing capabilities in the region. Under the agreement, Microsoft will leverage Mistral's expanded European GPU infrastructure to support its cloud computing and AI services. This infrastructure will be based on thousands of Nvidia Vera Rubin GPUs.In terms of products, the Mistral Medium 3.5 and OCR 4 models are now available on the Microsoft Foundry platform, and Mistral Medium 3.5 has also been integrated into Microsoft Copilot Studio for agent applications, document processing workflows, and industry-customized workflows. Additionally, the two parties will expand AI deployment options through Azure and Azure Local, supporting cloud, cloud-connected, and fully offline environments, targeting industries with high data compliance requirements such as finance, healthcare, and manufacturing.
The four major Bitcoin mining pools control over 70% of the hashrate
According to Odaily, as of June 23, 2026, Foundry Digital, AntPool, ViaBTC, and F2Pool collectively control over 70% of the Bitcoin network's hashrate, with shares of approximately 31%, 18%, 13%, and 10% respectively. Foundry Digital is a US-based mining pool backed by Digital Currency Group, primarily serving large institutions and publicly listed mining companies. In the first half of 2026, D-Central reported a Nakamoto coefficient of 3, meaning that just three mining pools would be enough to produce more than half of the blocks. ViaBTC faced stricter regulatory scrutiny in 2026, prompting some miners to shift to alternative pools like EMCD.
Foundry, a leading Bitcoin mining pool, has officially launched its Zcash mining pool, already accounting for nearly one-third of newly minted ZEC.
According to Fortune, Foundry, a leading Bitcoin mining pool, officially launched a new mining pool for the privacy coin Zcash on April 13. Mike Colyer, CEO of Foundry, stated that this move aims to address growing institutional demand for privacy coins. The pool has already attracted several institutional miners, and its output now accounts for nearly one-third of all newly minted Zcash globally. Zcash implements transaction privacy via zero-knowledge proof technology while supporting selective disclosure to meet regulatory compliance requirements—making it more appealing to institutions than its competitor Monero. Fueled by this news, Zcash’s price has surged over 75% in the past 30 days, with its current market capitalization standing at approximately $6.3 billion. Foundry currently controls about 31% of the global Bitcoin hash rate, making it the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool operator.
Bitcoin BIP-110 Nears Block 961,632, Miner Signal Support Rate Only 2.45%
Odaily News: Bitcoin's BIP-110 will enter the enforcement phase after block 961,632, where nodes will reject blocks that do not signal support. Monitoring page data shows that among the 1,674 blocks counted in the current cycle, only 41 blocks support BIP-110, putting the miner signal support rate at 2.45%. BIP-110, officially named "Reduced Data Temporary Softfork," plans to tighten certain data rules in Bitcoin transactions within approximately one year, restricting the size of certain data elements used by Ordinals inscriptions and multiple token protocols. The proposal is primarily distributed through Bitcoin Knots, and Bitcoin Core has not adopted it. Major mining pools such as Foundry, Antpool, F2pool, and Viabtc have not issued support signals. If BIP-110 nodes execute as planned, the network could see two transaction histories, with the majority of miners and Bitcoin Core users expected to continue using the existing rules. Australian Bitcoin exchange Hardblock stated that BIP-110 activation is expected around August 7-8 and may temporarily suspend buying, selling, deposits, and withdrawals. Lightning Network tools and analytics provider Amboss has warned of a fork risk in early August, and Australian Bitcoin exchange Bitaroo plans to freeze deposits and withdrawals as the mandatory signaling deadline approaches.
Citrini analyst jukan: Samsung Foundry achieves monthly profitability in June for the first time since 2023
Citrini analyst jukan posted on X platform, quoting South Korean media reports, stating that Samsung Foundry achieved monthly profitability in June, marking the first time since 2023. With the monthly profit turning positive in June, Samsung insiders reportedly believe the likelihood of the company achieving a profitability turnaround starting from the third quarter has increased. The production of HBM4 base dies using Samsung's 4nm process is regarded as a key factor driving this turnaround, while improvements in yield rate are also considered a major factor supporting the monthly profit positivity.Industry sources estimate that the yield rate of Samsung's 4nm process has improved to approximately 80%.
Migration complete, VANRY trading will take place only on the Base network
Vanar posted on X that the VANRY contracts on Ethereum and Polygon have been suspended, and VANRY trading will take place only on the Base network. Vanar will fully transition to Base, focusing on developing Foundry, AI organizations, and its economic system; Foundry is scheduled to launch on October 1.
Grok 4.6 launches on Microsoft Foundry platform
According to Elon Musk's post on X, xAI's Grok 4.6 model is now available on Microsoft's Foundry platform. Enterprise organizations can build with Grok 4.6 on Foundry, compare cutting-edge AI models on the platform, run specific workload tests, deploy managed endpoints, and operate with enterprise-grade security and governance controls.
Situational Awareness Heavy Investment Target Revealed: $400 Million Invested in Semiconductor Manufacturing Startup Source Foundry
According to Bloomberg, former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner's AI fund Situational Awareness invested $400 million this week to back a private company, semiconductor manufacturing startup Source Foundry. It is reported that VC giant Sequoia Capital also supports the startup. As of now, representatives of Situational Awareness and Source Foundry have not responded to requests for comment, while Sequoia Capital declined to confirm the hedge fund's investment details. According to reports, Source Foundry is dedicated to developing a semiconductor manufacturing process that is simpler, lower-cost, and faster than existing methods, aiming to bridge the widening gap between artificial intelligence computing demand and chip manufacturing capacity expansion capabilities. Analysts believe that Leopold Aschenbrenner's large-scale investment reflects the market's continued strong demand for new chip manufacturing technologies, as artificial intelligence developers' demand for computing power continues to grow. However, this investment also reveals that Situational Awareness had already established highly concentrated risk exposure before its public technology holdings encountered severe volatility and the fund came under significant financial pressure.
Bitcoin BIP-110 Nears Block 961,632, Miner Signal Support Rate Only 2.45%
Odaily News: Bitcoin's BIP-110 will enter the enforcement phase after block 961,632, where nodes will reject blocks that do not signal support. Monitoring page data shows that among the 1,674 blocks counted in the current cycle, only 41 blocks support BIP-110, putting the miner signal support rate at 2.45%. BIP-110, officially named "Reduced Data Temporary Softfork," plans to tighten certain data rules in Bitcoin transactions within approximately one year, restricting the size of certain data elements used by Ordinals inscriptions and multiple token protocols. The proposal is primarily distributed through Bitcoin Knots, and Bitcoin Core has not adopted it. Major mining pools such as Foundry, Antpool, F2pool, and Viabtc have not issued support signals. If BIP-110 nodes execute as planned, the network could see two transaction histories, with the majority of miners and Bitcoin Core users expected to continue using the existing rules. Australian Bitcoin exchange Hardblock stated that BIP-110 activation is expected around August 7-8 and may temporarily suspend buying, selling, deposits, and withdrawals. Lightning Network tools and analytics provider Amboss has warned of a fork risk in early August, and Australian Bitcoin exchange Bitaroo plans to freeze deposits and withdrawals as the mandatory signaling deadline approaches.
Foundry USA mined 6 consecutive blocks, Bitcoin block 941,881 chain reorganization completed
Odaily News, March 24 – Antpool mined Bitcoin block 941,881 at UTC time 15:49:35. Foundry USA mined another version of the same height 12 seconds later, briefly creating two competing chains on the Bitcoin blockchain. Subsequently, ViaBTC extended block 941,882 on top of the Antpool version, while Foundry USA also continued to extend its own branch. Foundry USA then mined blocks 941,883 to 941,886 consecutively, giving its branch a cumulative workload lead. Nodes subsequently reorganized to the Foundry USA version, causing the blocks mined by Antpool and ViaBTC to become orphaned. The affected miners lost the corresponding block rewards and fees, and transactions not confirmed on the winning chain re-entered the mempool to be confirmed in subsequent blocks.
Fortitude Launches 12 MW Mining Facility in Nebraska, Surpassing 60 MW in Self-Owned Power Portfolio
: Zcash mining company Fortitude has launched its 12 MW facility in Grand Island, Nebraska, completing its first greenfield data center construction and expanding its self-owned power portfolio to over 60 MW across seven sites. Fortitude stated that the facility has completed construction and electrical testing and is ready for commercial operations. This milestone comes ahead of Fortitude's planned public listing through a business combination with HeartSciences (Nasdaq: HSCS), a listed medical technology company. Fortitude expects that, with successful miner deployment and stable power, network, and market conditions, the facility will reduce the direct cash cost of mining Zcash from approximately $70 per coin to around $40 per coin. The company attributes the cost reduction to lower-cost self-owned power and more efficient next-generation mining hardware. The facility is expected to procure power at approximately $0.045 per kilowatt-hour. It is located between two solar power generation facilities and adjacent to a substation with spare capacity. Fortitude was spun off from the Foundry mining division of Digital Currency Group in January 2025, with operations including mining Bitcoin and other proof-of-work cryptocurrencies.
Related news
Fortitude Appoints Former Hut 8 CEO Leverton to Lead NASDAQ Listing Plan
According to CoinDesk, Zcash mining company Fortitude Mining Holdings announced the appointment of former Hut 8 CEO Jaime Leverton as chief executive officer, who will officially take office on September 21. Outgoing CEO Andrea Childs will step into the role of chief operating officer. Leverton previously led Hut 8’s merger with US Bitcoin Corp and drove its transition to a U.S.-domestic operation. Fortitude plans to go public by merging with NASDAQ-listed HeartSciences (HSCS). Upon completion, the combined company’s ticker will change to “TUDE,” with the transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter and valuing the post-merger entity at at least $400 million. Spun off from Foundry in January 2025 by Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group, Fortitude currently operates over 60 megawatts of power capacity across South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, and New York. It mined 72,696 ZEC in the first half of the year, accounting for approximately 28% of the network’s total output during that period, while Q2 revenue reached $20.9 million.
Zcash mining firm Fortitude appoints former Hut 8 CEO, advancing reverse merger listing process
Odaily News: Fortitude Mining, a Zcash mining-focused subsidiary under Digital Currency Group (DCG), has announced the appointment of Jaime Leverton, former CEO of Nasdaq-listed mining company Hut 8, as its new CEO to accelerate its reverse merger with Nasdaq medical technology company HeartSciences as part of a backdoor listing process.Leverton will officially take office on September 21 and will lead the newly listed company upon completion of the merger, while former CEO Andrea Childs will transition to CEO. The all-stock merger transaction was announced in June of this year, and the combined entity plans to rename itself Fortitude and trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol TUDE, with DCG expected to hold approximately 95% of the shares. Fortitude was spun off from Foundry's proprietary mining division in January 2025 and produced a cumulative 72,696 ZEC in the first half of 2026. (The Miner Mag)
Migration complete, VANRY trading will take place only on the Base network
Vanar posted on X that the VANRY contracts on Ethereum and Polygon have been suspended, and VANRY trading will take place only on the Base network. Vanar will fully transition to Base, focusing on developing Foundry, AI organizations, and its economic system; Foundry is scheduled to launch on October 1.
Riot Platforms Transfers 119.63 BTC to NYDIG Custody, Worth $9.3 Million
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, Riot Platforms' Foundry Digital mining pool wallet transferred 119.63 BTC to NYDIG Custody, valued at approximately $9.3 million.
Grok 4.6 launches on Microsoft Foundry platform
According to Elon Musk's post on X, xAI's Grok 4.6 model is now available on Microsoft's Foundry platform. Enterprise organizations can build with Grok 4.6 on Foundry, compare cutting-edge AI models on the platform, run specific workload tests, deploy managed endpoints, and operate with enterprise-grade security and governance controls.
Goldman Sachs: 2026 WFE Forecast Raised to $150 Billion, Driven by DRAM and Foundry
According to Chaotian Research, Goldman Sachs' August 23 research report raised its forecast for wafer front-end equipment (WFE) from 2026 to 2028 to $150 billion, $218 billion, and $281 billion, representing increases of 6%, 17%, and 35% over previous forecasts. The adjusted three-year year-over-year growth rates are 36%, 45%, and 29%, compared to prior expectations of 28%, 32%, and 12%.