Author: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 23, 2026 / Investors encountering SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) for the first time often start with the obvious headline: a dramatic 2025 price move. A rally exceeding 4,000% naturally draws attention, and from a trading perspective, that reaction makes sense.

But the more important question isn’t how far the stock moved. It’s why it moved-and whether the forces behind that revaluation remain intact.

Between November and late January, SMX’s market capitalization expanded from roughly $5 million to nearly $200 million. That kind of repricing doesn’t happen simply because momentum traders show up. It happens when a market begins to understand a company differently than it did before.

In SMX’s case, investors appeared to recognize something they had previously overlooked: this is not a conventional technology company. It occupies a category of its own.

What the Market Finally Understood

SMX does something few companies can claim. It embeds immutable, molecular-level identifiers directly into physical materials-metals, plastics, textiles, and even liquids-allowing those materials to carry a persistent digital identity from production through end of life.

In practical terms, SMX creates a material-level passport. Provenance, authenticity, and integrity are no longer inferred from documentation or declarations; they are verifiable attributes of the material itself, continuously available throughout the supply chain.

That capability reframed how investors viewed the company.

Some observers have compared the potential impact of this approach to earlier platform technologies that quietly reshaped daily life in the early 2000s. The comparison isn’t about consumer behavior-it’s about scale and permanence. When verification becomes embedded rather than optional, entire systems begin to operate differently.

Momentum Built on Execution, Not Narrative

The shift in perception wasn’t theoretical. It was reinforced by tangible developments.

SMX engaged with Singapore’s A*STAR on circularity initiatives, partnered with Dubai’s DMCC to monitor precious metals markets, and advanced additional programs that demonstrated real-world deployment. These weren’t aspirational announcements-they were signals of operational traction.

As those engagements accumulated, the market began to see SMX less as a concept and more as infrastructure: a company capable of redefining how sustainability, accountability, and circularity are enforced across global supply chains.

Crucially, this wasn’t driven by slogans or speculation. It was driven by proof.

The Missing Piece: A Digital Market Layer

Even with material-level verification in place, one element still needed reinforcement: a digital mechanism capable of supporting scale, monetization, and institutional participation-particularly around SMX’s Plastic Cycle Token (PCT).

That is where Kraken enters the picture.

Not as the headline. As the reinforcement.

Why Institutions Care About Structure More Than Innovation

Retail investors often focus on novelty. Institutions do not.

Large enterprises, regulators, and global partners assume innovation as a baseline. What they scrutinize instead is durability: whether a platform can withstand audits, cyber risk, regulatory oversight, and operational complexity without becoming a liability.

SMX’s alignment with Kraken addresses those questions directly.

SMX already establishes material truth. Kraken strengthens the environment in which that truth operates-enhancing execution security, permissions, and system resilience. Together, they answer the questions institutions ask before committing: Can this scale? Can it integrate cleanly? Can it operate without introducing new risk?

Those answers matter as much as any technological feature.

Why the Order of Operations Matters

It’s important to understand the sequence that brought SMX to this point.

First came molecular verification.
Then digital identity via the Plastic Cycle Token.
Only after scale and institutional relevance became real did execution-layer reinforcement arrive.

That order is not accidental.

Institutions do not adopt platforms that are still assembling their foundations. They adopt systems that appear designed for oversight from day one. SMX had already secured meaningful engagements throughout 2025. The Kraken-based treasury strategy announced recently strengthens that posture-but it does not redefine it.

The direction was already set.

Reducing Friction Where Adoption Breaks Down

One of the biggest obstacles to institutional adoption isn’t cost or capability. It’s disruption.

Kraken allows SMX to integrate into enterprise environments without forcing counterparties to rebuild their own security or treasury frameworks. That lowers barriers, shortens evaluation cycles, and accelerates confidence-particularly around PCT participation.

For institutions, that difference is decisive. Seamless integration often determines whether a platform is approved quickly or deferred indefinitely.

Confidence Compounds in Infrastructure

Once institutions adopt infrastructure, they rarely unwind it quickly. Trust compounds. Switching costs rise. Systems embed themselves.

Kraken strengthens SMX’s ability to operate under scale, scrutiny, and complexity. That isn’t flashy-but it’s exactly what institutions prioritize.

As verification requirements expand and enforcement tightens globally, platforms that function smoothly under pressure gain relevance without needing to reintroduce themselves. SMX is positioning for that moment.

Readiness, Not Noise, Drives Adoption

The recent Kraken announcement drew attention-but its real value lies in deployability, not publicity.

Kraken doesn’t make SMX louder. It makes it easier to adopt.

That distinction matters. Platforms that are operationally ready before demand becomes unavoidable are the ones institutions trust when stakes rise. SMX’s track record across materials, jurisdictions, and enforcement contexts puts it in that category.

The stock’s pullback from its highs doesn’t negate that shift. With a market cap still near $200 million-more than 4,000% above November levels-it’s clear the market remains engaged.

And with valuations once again accessible, 2026 may bring renewed attention from investors who now understand what SMX actually represents.

About SMX

SMX enables material-level verification across global supply chains, helping companies meet carbon neutrality goals and comply with evolving regulatory standards. Through its marking, tracking, measuring, and digital platform technologies, SMX supports the transition to a more transparent, accountable, and circular economy.

Contact:

Jeremy Murphy
jeremy@360bespoke.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 23, 2026 / SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) is reshaping what the “gold standard” means in modern finance-not as a theory of currency backing, but as a system of proof. For decades, economists and policymakers debated whether gold would ever reclaim a formal monetary role. That debate cycled without resolution. What has resolved, quietly and decisively, is something more operational and more consequential: in an era defined by enforcement, sanctions, and geopolitical risk, gold’s value is increasingly determined by its ability to verify itself.

The next gold standard is evidentiary, not monetary.

Gold is entering a phase where legitimacy, traceability, and compliance are no longer secondary considerations. For regulators, custodians, and institutional holders, the defining question is no longer how much gold exists in theory, but how much of it can credibly demonstrate origin, custody, and integrity as it moves across borders, refineries, vaults, and ownership regimes. Markets that once relied on trust, precedent, and documentation are now being tested by scrutiny that those systems were never designed to withstand.

Behind the scenes, structural weaknesses have become harder to ignore. Significant portions of global gold inventories carry incomplete or inherited histories. Bars have passed through multiple jurisdictions over decades with records that are fragmented, inconsistent, or unverifiable. Legacy systems-built on refinery stamps, serial numbers, and paper trails-functioned in a slower, more cooperative world. Under today’s enforcement environment, assumption is no longer sufficient. Gold’s paradox is now visible: it is prized for certainty, yet much of it cannot independently substantiate its own past.

This is the gap SMX is designed to close.

By embedding a persistent, molecular-level identifier directly into gold itself, SMX enables the metal to carry verifiable identity through refining, transport, division, remelting, and reuse. That identity does not depend on external databases, custodial declarations, or documentation that can degrade over time. It is inseparable from the material. Gold no longer needs to be trusted-it can be tested.

For regulators, this marks a shift from inference to evidence. Compliance moves from paper-based review to material-based verification. For institutions, it introduces a clearer framework for managing counterparty, seizure, and rejection risk in a market where a single discovery of compromised inventory can reverberate broadly. And for global trade, it establishes a new distinction that markets will inevitably price: gold that can withstand inspection versus gold that cannot.

In this emerging framework, verification becomes the new gold standard. Not as a slogan or an aspiration, but as an operational requirement. Gold that can prove itself clears more efficiently, insures more readily, and trades with greater confidence. Gold that cannot increasingly carries friction, discounting, and exposure.

This transition is not speculative, and it is not distant. It is already unfolding as oversight tightens and enforcement becomes routine. As that reality settles in, liquidity will follow certainty. The gold standard is returning-but this time, it is backed not by belief, but by proof.

Contact:

Jeremy Murphy
jeremy@360bespoke.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 23, 2026 / Those new to SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) may be focused primarily on its impressive 2025 rally. That’s fine from an investor perspective. Gains of over 4,200% should attract attention. But the real focus should be on why it happened. And just as importantly, whether that rally history can repeat.

So why did SMX’s market cap soar from roughly $5 million in November to about $199 million as of January 22nd?

The most likely reason is that investors finally responded to what SMX actually is. A unique company. One that can do things no other known company can.

SMX molecularly marks materials, including metals, plastics, textiles, and even liquids, with an immutable marker that follows those items from manufacturing through end of life. Better said, it creates a digital passport that ensures provenance, authenticity, and integrity at every stage of the supply chain.

That capability is what caused the excitement.

Some have compared its potential impact to that of breakthrough consumer technologies that permanently changed everyday life less than 20 years ago. Different markets, yes. But the reach could prove just as significant.

Not Speculation, Not Slogans Just Proof.

Proof of that momentum is already showing through a series of high-impact engagements. Collaborations with Singapore’s A*STAR around circularity. Work with Dubai’s DMCC to monitor precious metals markets. And several additional initiatives that sent a clear signal.

With that, investors began to see SMX for what it can be. A structural game-changer for sustainability, accountability, and global supply chain circularity. Not in theory, but in execution, with verifiable authentication at its core.

What the platform needed next was another critical component. A digital market layer capable of monetizing participation and facilitating rapid adoption of its Plastic Cycle Token (PCT).

That’s the context Kraken enters. Not as the headline. As the reinforcement.

Institutional Systems Don’t Tolerate Loose Ends

Unlike market investors, large enterprises, regulators, and global partners don’t make significant commitments based on whether a platform is innovative. That’s usually assumed. Instead, they ask whether it’s defensible, resilient, and deployable inside environments already burdened with risk, compliance, and operational complexity.

SMX’s Kraken-aligned treasury strategy addresses those concerns directly.

Institutions operate under a different level of scrutiny. Their systems must withstand audits, cyber risk, and regulatory oversight without constant intervention. SMX already addresses material truth. Kraken extends that capability by strengthening the conditions under which that truth operates.

By reinforcing execution, permissions, and system integrity, Kraken addresses the questions institutions ask before committing. Can this platform scale? Can it integrate cleanly? Can it operate without introducing new risk?

The answer to each is yes. And that answer matters just as much as any feature set.

Sequencing Matters in Institutional Infrastructure

Those new to SMX should start here. SMX didn’t arrive at this valuation point by accident.

It first established molecular-level verification. Digital identity followed through its Plastic Cycle Token (PCT). Secure execution was added once the platform reached the point where scale and institutional integration demanded it.

That sequence matters.

Institutions don’t adopt platforms that are still assembling their foundation. They adopt platforms, like SMX’s, that look designed for oversight from the start. Keep in mind that SMX was already securing major deals throughout 2025. Its Kraken-based treasury strategy announcement last week strengthens that posture. But it’s important not to miss the point.

The posture was already there. So, no, Kraken doesn’t redefine SMX. It supports the trajectory SMX was already on.

Kraken Reduces Friction Where Institutions Feel It Most

One of the most significant barriers to institutional adoption isn’t cost. It’s disruption.

Kraken enables SMX to integrate into enterprise environments without forcing counterparties to redesign their own security frameworks. That lowers adoption barriers and shortens evaluation cycles. Its PCT plays a central role in that process.

For institutions, that’s decisive.

It allows verification capabilities to be adopted without operational upheaval, which is often the difference between approval and delay. When adoption is smoother, confidence builds faster. And that confidence can become a compounding value driver.

Institutional Confidence Compounds Over Time

Once institutions adopt infrastructure, they rarely replace it quickly. Rhetorically speaking, why should they, especially when trust compounds, switching costs rise, and systems become embedded.

Kraken adds the digital component that supports the long-term dynamic by making the platform more resilient under scale, complexity, and oversight. That’s not flashy. It’s foundational.

As verification requirements expand and enforcement increases, institutions will continue to gravitate toward platforms that can meet those demands without drama. SMX is positioning itself for that moment, with Kraken supporting digital market readiness rather than redefining purpose.

Readiness Is the Real Adoption Catalyst

Yes, a lot of attention has been given to the Kraken headline from last week. But here’s the reality. Kraken doesn’t make SMX louder. It makes it more deployable.

That added fuel, centered on suitability rather than hype, is what drives institutional adoption. Platforms that look ready before demand becomes unavoidable are the ones institutions trust when the stakes rise. Those that have already proven functionality across the board are the ones that get adopted.

In that respect, SMX’s résumé stands apart.

Kraken’s role doesn’t change the direction SMX is heading. It ensures the platform can carry the weight when institutions lean in further in 2026.

SMX’s work helped catapult the company to historic highs. While the share price has retreated, the market cap has remained notable. At roughly $199 million today, more than 4,000% higher than November levels, it’s fair to say investors are still engaged.

And with prices again attractive to the retail class, more may decide to add SMX to their 2026 itinerary.

About SMX

As global businesses face new and complex challenges relating to carbon neutrality and meeting new governmental and regional regulations and standards, SMX is able to offer players along the value chain access to its marking, tracking, measuring and digital platform technology to transition more successfully to a low-carbon economy.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intends,” “may,” “will,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this press release may include, for example: matters relating to the Company’s fight against abusive and possibly illegal trading tactics against the Company’s stock; successful launch and implementation of SMX’s joint projects with manufacturers and other supply chain participants of steel, rubber and other materials; changes in SMX’s strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects and plans; SMX’s ability to develop and launch new products and services, including its planned Plastic Cycle Token; SMX’s ability to successfully and efficiently integrate future expansion plans and opportunities; SMX’s ability to grow its business in a cost-effective manner; SMX’s product development timeline and estimated research and development costs; the implementation, market acceptance and success of SMX’s business model; developments and projections relating to SMX’s competitors and industry; and SMX’s approach and goals with respect to technology. These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing views as of any subsequent date, and no obligation is undertaken to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, actual results or performance may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the ability to maintain the listing of the Company’s shares on Nasdaq; changes in applicable laws or regulations; any lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on SMX’s business; the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and identify and realize additional opportunities; the risk of downturns and the possibility of rapid change in the highly competitive industry in which SMX operates; the risk that SMX and its current and future collaborators are unable to successfully develop and commercialize SMX’s products or services, or experience significant delays in doing so; the risk that the Company may never achieve or sustain profitability; the risk that the Company will need to raise additional capital to execute its business plan, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all; the risk that the Company experiences difficulties in managing its growth and expanding operations; the risk that third-party suppliers and manufacturers are not able to fully and timely meet their obligations; the risk that SMX is unable to secure or protect its intellectual property; the possibility that SMX may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and other risks and uncertainties described in SMX’s filings from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For further information contact:

SMX GENERAL ENQUIRIES

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Contact: Jeremy Murphy/ jeremy@360bespoke.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / January 23, 2026 / SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) has entered 2026 fully financed through the end of first quarter 2027, giving the Company the flexibility to stay focused on execution, expanding its platform, and continuing to develop its Plastic Cycle Token as a practical foundation for the circular economy. The Company is investing in the rollout of its molecular marking and material verification technologies, strengthening its digital platform, and driving real-world adoption across global supply chains where transparency, proof, and regulatory alignment are no longer optional.

On Jan 8, SMX announced its convertible notes have been fully converted in accordance with their terms. This full conversion of the notes materially reduces SMX’s long-term liabilities, eliminates potential equity overhang associated with convertible instruments and strengthens the Company’s financial position as it advances project development across its circular-materials platform.

World business, political, economic leaders and NGOs met this week in Davos for the World Economic Forum meeting, and a frequent topic of conversation was sustainable finance, directing money and investment decisions in ways that support long-term environmental, social, and economic stability (https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/01/wef-davos-coming-together-sustainable-growth-means-rethinking-value/; https://www.esgtoday.com/davos-2026-the-urgent-imperative-of-private-climate-finance-guest-post/). Many public-private partnerships have come out of the WEF summit, with blended financing designed to unlock private capital at scale. With governments tightening requirements around origination, carbon, recycling, and materials disclosure, companies are being asked to prove what their data represents, not just report it. SMX addresses this challenge by embedding invisible molecular identifiers directly into materials, creating a durable record that travels with a product from manufacturing through reuse, recycling, and end-of-life.

That physical-to-digital connection is the foundation of SMX’s Plastic Cycle Token strategy. The token framework is designed to capture verified material lifecycle events and convert them into reliable, auditable data. This allows sustainability outcomes to be measured based on evidence rather than estimates, giving stakeholders a clearer way to demonstrate compliance, manage risk, and create value from circular activity.

In 2025, SMX made steady progress toward establishing verification as core infrastructure. The Company expanded internationally through partnerships and pilot programs, validating its technology across different regions, industries, and materials. These efforts showed that molecular-level identity can survive industrial processing and still deliver accurate tracking without disrupting existing operations.

SMX also extended its platform beyond plastics, reinforcing its evolution into a multi-material verification company with applications across manufacturing, recycling, and regulated supply chains. This broader scope supports the Company’s long-term goal of creating a unified verification layer that works for regulators, enterprises, and sustainability-focused markets alike.

With funding secured and key partnerships in place, SMX enters 2026 focused on disciplined growth, refining its platform, and advancing its verification and tokenization strategy. As sustainability expectations shift from ambition to accountability, the Company believes demand for trusted, verifiable material data will continue to grow, placing SMX at the center of that transition.

Contact:

Jeremy Murphy
jeremy@360bespoke.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 22, 2026 / Verification used to be treated as an accessory-something added when requested, documented when required, and forgotten until the next audit. That mindset no longer holds. As supply chains shift from disclosure-based frameworks to enforcement-led systems, verification is moving from the margins to the center.

SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) is built around that shift. Rather than treating verification as an output, SMX treats it as a foundational layer-one that materials carry with them regardless of who handles them next, how they are transformed, or where they move.

Its molecular identity technology is embedded directly into materials, allowing proof to persist independently of software overlays, counterparties, or documentation. When verification becomes inherent rather than declarative, it stops behaving like a tool and starts behaving like a platform.

Platforms Scale by Reuse, Not Replication

Traditional solutions grow linearly. They sell more licenses, add more modules, and rebuild for each new use case.

Platforms grow differently. They reuse the same core logic across new contexts.

SMX follows that model. Its identity framework is material-agnostic, designed to function across plastics, textiles, metals, and other regulated inputs. Once the identity layer is in place, expansion does not require reinvention. Each new vertical becomes an extension of the same system rather than a separate build.

That horizontal scalability compounds quietly. Work done in plastics informs textiles. Custody rules developed for metals strengthen identity standards elsewhere. Each deployment adds reach without adding fragility. Complexity stays at the edges, not the core.

This only works when growth is controlled. SMX’s use of optional, VWAP-based capital supports that discipline. The company can enter new markets when systems are ready-without forcing expansion, diluting focus, or compromising execution. Platform integrity takes precedence over speed.

Platforms don’t succeed by rushing. They succeed by accumulating.

Capital Structure Shapes Platform Outcomes

Enduring platforms are rarely built under financial pressure. Standards need time to stabilize. Integrations improve through repetition. Trust forms through consistency, not volume.

Capital that demands constant activity distorts that process. It incentivizes short-term milestones instead of long-term architecture. By contrast, neutral capital allows platforms to mature on their own terms.

SMX’s financing reflects that philosophy. Capital availability supports growth without dictating it. There is no embedded urgency to manufacture momentum or accelerate dilution. Management retains the ability to prioritize system coherence over opportunistic expansion.

That stability matters to partners building permanent infrastructure-national agencies, industrial operators, and compliance-driven markets. These participants adopt platforms they expect to survive regulatory cycles and market transitions. Capital discipline signals durability.

Adoption Accelerates When Verification Becomes Unavoidable

In regulated industries, platforms rarely scale through promotion. They scale through necessity.

As enforcement increases, verification shifts from competitive advantage to baseline requirement-often across multiple sectors at once. Plastics face recycled-content enforcement. Textiles encounter origin and fiber scrutiny. Metals confront provenance and custody obligations. Each industry moves on its own timeline, but the destination is shared.

SMX is positioned precisely at that convergence point.

Because its platform is already designed to operate under inspection, it doesn’t need to pivot as rules tighten. It simply remains in place. The technology provides proof. Partnerships embed it where oversight is unavoidable. From there, adoption follows enforcement, not marketing.

This is how platforms scale in regulated environments: through steady accumulation rather than bursts of expansion. Each deployment reduces friction for the next. Each cycle reinforces relevance. Over time, presence becomes default.

When Verification Becomes the System

SMX’s opportunity sits at a clear intersection: verification that works across materials, a platform that holds together under increasing scrutiny, and markets that are converging toward requirements the system already meets.

When verification becomes infrastructure, individual products fade into the background. Platforms take their place.

And platforms that are embedded early-before enforcement peaks-tend to stay.

That is the SMX proposition.

Contact:

Jeremy Murphy
jeremy@360bespoke.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 22, 2026 / Global supply chains were engineered for speed and scale-not accountability. For decades, materials moved efficiently while questions about origin, custody, and compliance were managed through contracts, certifications, and institutional trust. That framework functioned until rising regulation, cross-border disputes, and enforcement pressure revealed just how fragile paper-based certainty really is.

SMX PLC is designing for what comes after that realization.

Rather than layering software on top of broken assumptions, SMX approaches identity as a property of the material itself. By embedding verification at the molecular level, materials are able to carry proof wherever they go. Identity is no longer something assigned, reported, or interpreted-it becomes intrinsic. Once that shift occurs, the behavior of entire systems begins to change.

This approach is not confined to sustainability initiatives or recycling programs. It applies anywhere materials are exchanged, regulated, audited, or disputed.

A Single Identity Framework Across Multiple Materials

Most traceability efforts operate in silos. Plastics follow one system. Textiles rely on another. Metals use entirely different standards. Each vertical solution introduces new complexity and new failure points.

SMX is pursuing a different architecture-one where the same identity logic applies horizontally across materials and industries.

Plastics were the logical starting point because regulatory pressure is immediate and unforgiving. Recycled-content mandates, extended producer responsibility laws, and audit exposure have turned verification into a requirement rather than an aspiration. Molecular identity resolves the core question simply and decisively: whether recycled material exists, where it originated, and how it moved.

That same mechanism extends naturally into textiles, where enforcement around recycled fibers and sustainability claims is accelerating, particularly in Europe and Asia. When fibers retain identity, recycled content stops being inferred and starts being provable.

Metals introduce even higher stakes. In precious and critical materials, provenance and custody are not marketing claims-they are legal and financial imperatives. Failures carry real consequences. Molecular-level verification holds under that pressure because it does not rely on intermediaries, declarations, or trust.

Across categories, the effect is consistent. Identity reduces ambiguity. And reduced ambiguity reshapes markets.

When Proof Moves With the Material, Trade Behaves Differently

Trade dynamics change once verification travels with the material.

Verified goods clear faster. Disputes decline. Counterparty risk shrinks. In highly regulated environments, buyers increasingly recognize that proof is not a bonus-it is protection.

This is where SMX’s framework begins to function less like a technology solution and more like infrastructure. It operates beneath transactions, enabling enforcement without adding friction. Identity does not need to be believed because it can be tested.

That distinction becomes critical as supply chains fragment geopolitically. Border crossings now demand proof that survives inspection, not documentation that assumes cooperation. Identity that degrades at inspection loses value. Identity that persists becomes a commercial advantage-and, increasingly, a pricing variable.

SMX’s work across national systems, industrial platforms, and regulated markets reflects this shift. Identity is being engineered to function under scrutiny, not goodwill.

Digital Systems Only Matter When Physical Truth Exists

Once materials carry verifiable identity, digital mechanisms can finally operate with integrity.

In plastics, SMX’s Plastic Cycle Token acts as a settlement layer tied directly to verified physical activity. It does not reward declarations or intentions. It reflects measurable events-collection, processing, circulation.

That structure is extensible because the principle is universal: digital value only holds when anchored to physical reality. Identity provides that anchor.

As material-level identity expands across sectors and jurisdictions, the implications compound. Regulators gain enforceable oversight. Markets gain clarity. Companies gain a way to operate without relying on trust-based narratives that collapse under pressure.

This is the broader direction SMX is pursuing. Identity is not being built as a reporting tool or a sustainability feature. It is being designed as a foundational layer for trade, compliance, and accountability.

When materials can verify themselves, markets stop debating what happened. They start pricing it. And once identity is embedded, it doesn’t disappear-it becomes part of how global commerce works.

Contact: Jeremy Murphy/ jeremy@360bespoke.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 22, 2026 / SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) has entered 2026 fully financed through the end of first quarter 2027, giving the Company the flexibility to stay focused on execution, expanding its platform, and continuing to develop its Plastic Cycle Token as a practical foundation for the circular economy. The Company is investing in the rollout of its molecular marking and material verification technologies, strengthening its digital platform, and driving real-world adoption across global supply chains where transparency, proof, and regulatory alignment are no longer optional.

On Jan 8, SMX announced its convertible notes have been fully converted in accordance with their terms. This full conversion of the notes materially reduces SMX’s long-term liabilities, eliminates potential equity overhang associated with convertible instruments and strengthens the Company’s financial position as it advances project development across its circular-materials platform.

As governments tighten requirements around origination, carbon, recycling, and materials disclosure, companies are being asked to prove what their data represents, not just report it. SMX addresses this challenge by embedding invisible molecular identifiers directly into materials, creating a durable record that travels with a product from manufacturing through reuse, recycling, and end-of-life.

That physical-to-digital connection is the foundation of SMX’s Plastic Cycle Token strategy. The token framework is designed to capture verified material lifecycle events and convert them into reliable, auditable data. This allows sustainability outcomes to be measured based on evidence rather than estimates, giving stakeholders a clearer way to demonstrate compliance, manage risk, and create value from circular activity.

In 2025, SMX made steady progress toward establishing verification as core infrastructure. The Company expanded internationally through partnerships and pilot programs, validating its technology across different regions, industries, and materials. These efforts showed that molecular-level identity can survive industrial processing and still deliver accurate tracking without disrupting existing operations.

SMX also extended its platform beyond plastics, reinforcing its evolution into a multi-material verification company with applications across manufacturing, recycling, and regulated supply chains. This broader scope supports the Company’s long-term goal of creating a unified verification layer that works for regulators, enterprises, and sustainability-focused markets alike.

With funding secured and key partnerships in place, SMX enters 2026 focused on disciplined growth, refining its platform, and advancing its verification and tokenization strategy. As sustainability expectations shift from ambition to accountability, the Company believes demand for trusted, verifiable material data will continue to grow, placing SMX at the center of that transition.

Contact: Jeremy Murphy/ jeremy@360bespoke.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 22, 2026 / SMX’s (NASDAQ:SMX) announcement around Kraken explained what the move adds to the SMX platform. It’s just as important to understand why it fits where it does, and why the timing matters.

Aligning its treasury with Kraken was never intended to be a standalone milestone. It was designed as a structural layer, added at a point where the platform required greater execution strength, interoperability, and resilience to support the next phase of adoption.

After all, infrastructure doesn’t scale because it’s visible. It scales because it’s coherent. For SMX and the markets it serves, that’s a critical element.

SMX Adds Another Critical Layer of Infrastructure

SMX is built to address one of the most persistent challenges in modern commerce: verifying that physical materials are exactly what they claim to be across complex and regulated supply chains. Molecular markers establish identity at the material level. Digital systems preserve that identity through time. But verification only becomes actionable when it can move securely through real operating environments.

That’s where Kraken fits.

Kraken strengthens the execution layer that sits between material identity and real-world deployment. It supports secure processing, permissions, and system integrity in environments where cybersecurity, uptime, and auditability are non-negotiable. As traceability systems transition from pilots into regulated, production-scale use, that layer becomes essential. That’s where the cohesion starts to matter.

SMX Is Sequencing Its Infrastructure

Rather than building outward and addressing robustness later, SMX has followed a deliberate sequence. Verification was first established at the molecular level. Digital identity followed. Secure execution was added once the platform reached the point where scale and institutional integration demanded it.

That sequence reduces future friction instead of reacting to it.

Kraken also expands how the platform can be deployed. It enables cleaner integration into enterprise and institutional environments without requiring counterparties to reengineer their own security frameworks. That flexibility lowers adoption barriers and supports long-term integration, particularly in industries where infrastructure decisions are made with durability in mind.

This development aligns with SMX’s broader objective of serving as a trust backbone for industries where verification is no longer optional. Circular materials, regulated manufacturing, critical components, and sustainability enforcement all depend on systems that can withstand scrutiny under real-world conditions.

Kraken contributes directly to that resilience. And it’s a reason for investors and stakeholders to pay attention.

Infrastructure Is a Boring Headline, But a Massive Value Driver

Infrastructure rarely draws attention once it’s working correctly. Its value is instead measured in what it prevents rather than what it advertises. By reinforcing execution and reducing system vulnerabilities, Kraken helps ensure that verification remains reliable as complexity, scale, and oversight increase.

SMX continues to build its platform with readiness as the priority. Verification requirements are expanding. Enforcement is increasing. Proof is becoming a prerequisite for participation in global markets.

The Kraken-aligned treasury doesn’t change that direction. It ensures the SMX platform is prepared for it. That’s how enduring infrastructure is built. It’s also how SMX future-proofs its clients as markets move from trust-based systems to proof-based ones.

About SMX

As global businesses face new and complex challenges relating to carbon neutrality and meeting new governmental and regional regulations and standards, SMX is able to offer players along the value chain access to its marking, tracking, measuring and digital platform technology to transition more successfully to a low-carbon economy.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intends,” “may,” “will,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this press release may include, for example: matters relating to the Company’s fight against abusive and possibly illegal trading tactics against the Company’s stock; successful launch and implementation of SMX’s joint projects with manufacturers and other supply chain participants of steel, rubber and other materials; changes in SMX’s strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects and plans; SMX’s ability to develop and launch new products and services, including its planned Plastic Cycle Token; SMX’s ability to successfully and efficiently integrate future expansion plans and opportunities; SMX’s ability to grow its business in a cost-effective manner; SMX’s product development timeline and estimated research and development costs; the implementation, market acceptance and success of SMX’s business model; developments and projections relating to SMX’s competitors and industry; and SMX’s approach and goals with respect to technology. These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing views as of any subsequent date, and no obligation is undertaken to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, actual results or performance may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the ability to maintain the listing of the Company’s shares on Nasdaq; changes in applicable laws or regulations; any lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on SMX’s business; the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and identify and realize additional opportunities; the risk of downturns and the possibility of rapid change in the highly competitive industry in which SMX operates; the risk that SMX and its current and future collaborators are unable to successfully develop and commercialize SMX’s products or services, or experience significant delays in doing so; the risk that the Company may never achieve or sustain profitability; the risk that the Company will need to raise additional capital to execute its business plan, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all; the risk that the Company experiences difficulties in managing its growth and expanding operations; the risk that third-party suppliers and manufacturers are not able to fully and timely meet their obligations; the risk that SMX is unable to secure or protect its intellectual property; the possibility that SMX may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and other risks and uncertainties described in SMX’s filings from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For further information contact:

SMX GENERAL ENQUIRIES

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Email: info@securitymattersltd.com

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Press Contact: Jeremy Murphy/ jeremy@360bespoke.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / January 21, 2026 / SMX PLC (NASDAQ:SMX; SMXWW) is positioning its physical-to-digital traceability platform as a response to some of the most persistent pressures facing fashion and luxury today-pressures underscored in The State of Fashion 2025. Excess inventory, chronic overproduction, inefficient supply chains, and rising mandates to include and verify recycled content are no longer isolated problems. Together, they reveal a deeper structural weakness.

At its core, the industry is struggling with continuity.

Fashion is built from materials that carry essential information long before a garment is finished-where fibers originated, how they were processed, what was added, blended, or reclaimed along the way. Yet as those materials move through global production networks, that information steadily detaches. Not because brands ignore it, but because legacy systems were never built to preserve identity across today’s scale, speed, and complexity.

Once materials lose their history, every downstream decision becomes harder.

Inventory Breakdown Is a Symptom, Not the Disease

The most obvious consequence appears in inventory.

Brands sit on surplus stock while simultaneously failing to meet demand in the right styles, sizes, or markets. Warehouses overflow, discounting accelerates, and products that should retain value instead become financial and reputational burdens.

This imbalance is often blamed on forecasting errors. But forecasting alone doesn’t explain why brands struggle to act decisively once inventory exists. The real issue is clarity. When materials and finished goods lose definitional precision as they move through supply chains, inventory stops being actionable.

Brands may know how much they have-but not always what they have, where it should go, or how it can be redeployed in ways that remain compliant, profitable, and aligned with sustainability commitments.

Without durable identity, inventory becomes indistinct. And indistinct inventory is managed defensively rather than strategically.

Why Paper Trails Fail Long Before Products Do

Most traceability and compliance frameworks still depend on documentation that ages poorly.

Labels are removed. Certificates expire. Records are scattered across systems that don’t travel with the product itself. The attributes that matter most-recycled content, sourcing integrity, regulatory eligibility-are often separated from the materials they describe.

For premium and luxury brands, this creates a fundamental mismatch. Products are designed for longevity, resale, and reuse. Proof is not. As time passes, uncertainty grows, even around legitimate goods.

That uncertainty drives blunt decision-making. Instead of precision redistribution or targeted reuse, brands default to clearance and write-downs to reduce exposure. Value erodes. Sustainability goals weaken. Brand equity takes collateral damage.

Embedding Memory Where It Can’t Be Lost

Solving overproduction and recycled-content verification challenges requires more than better planning tools. It requires continuity at the material level.

By embedding identity directly into raw materials, SMX enables information to persist through manufacturing, logistics, resale, and recycling. Identity no longer has to be reconstructed after the fact. It is carried forward automatically, inseparable from the material itself.

When that continuity exists, inventory behaves differently. Brands can distinguish between products that meet regulatory thresholds and those that don’t. They can confidently route goods into resale, redistribution, or recycling streams without guesswork. Compliance shifts from assumption to proof.

In an industry facing mounting regulation, margin pressure, and growing scrutiny around sustainability claims, remembering what was made-and what it truly contains-is becoming foundational.

Memory, once an afterthought, is now a prerequisite for control.

Contact: Jeremy Murphy / jeremy@360bespoke.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / January 21, 2026 / For decades, luxury operated on an unspoken agreement: heritage implied authenticity, and reputation stood in for proof. A label, a logo, a legacy-these were enough to signal quality, origin, and value. That system held when supply chains were shorter, ownership was linear, and products rarely lived beyond their first transaction.

That world no longer exists.

Today’s fashion and luxury ecosystem is global, fragmented, and circular. Materials move across borders, change hands multiple times, and re-enter the market through resale, reuse, and recycling. In that environment, trust that cannot be verified becomes fragile. According to findings highlighted in The State of Fashion 2025, excess inventory, stock-outs, and supply-chain volatility are no longer operational anomalies-they are symptoms of a system that lacks durable visibility.

This is the problem SMX PLC is addressing by shifting luxury brands away from reputation-based confidence and toward material-level certainty.

When Trust Becomes a Risk Factor

In fashion, trust is now tested constantly-and by parties who were never part of the original transaction.

Regulators require auditable proof of sourcing and composition. Insurers demand documentation that holds up over time. Resale platforms must authenticate goods long after they’ve left the brand’s control. Each of these checkpoints exposes the same weakness: claims that rely on records, certificates, or brand assurances often detach from the product itself.

The State of Fashion 2025 underscores how inventory imbalances and discounting pressure stem from this opacity. When brands cannot precisely identify what materials they have, where products came from, or how they can be reused or redeployed, decision-making slows and risk compounds.

What once functioned as brand equity begins to behave like exposure.

Why Trust Doesn’t Travel Anymore

Reputation does not move cleanly across borders, platforms, or ownership changes.

Luxury goods now circulate through resale marketplaces, cross-border commerce, and secondary ownership cycles where logos matter less than proof. Over time, documentation fragments. Certifications expire. Records live in databases while products move independently.

Even authentic items can lose value simply because verification is difficult. Each transaction requires trust to be rebuilt from scratch, introducing friction, delay, and doubt. Without a persistent link between a product and its history, brands lose control over how credibility is carried forward.

In a market built on longevity, that disconnect is costly.

Why Denim Reveals the Cracks

Seen through this lens, SMX’s planned expansion into denim and recycled denim in early 2026 is not a category experiment-it’s a stress test.

Denim operates at enormous scale, cutting across price points, geographies, and demographics while still anchoring premium brand identity. Billions of units move annually through global supply chains. Minor inefficiencies multiply quickly. Traceability gaps widen fast.

At the same time, pressure to increase recycled content is rising sharply. Yet recycled denim often loses definitional clarity once fibers are blended, processed, or traded. By the time fabric reaches finished garments, origin and composition frequently rely on estimates rather than verifiable data.

By extending cotton-based material identity into denim, SMX introduces persistence where the category typically loses it. Embedded identity allows denim-virgin or recycled-to carry verifiable information about origin, composition, and transformation across its entire lifecycle, even through complex manufacturing and reuse pathways.

The implications go beyond authentication. Offcuts, unsold inventory, and end-of-life garments can be identified accurately and redeployed intentionally. Materials that once became opaque liabilities gain the ability to re-enter supply chains as auditable inputs. Waste becomes traceable. Inventory becomes classifiable. Circularity becomes measurable.

In a category defined by volume, durability, and cultural relevance, denim exposes whether proof can survive scale.

Making Verification Inherent, Not Interpretive

Addressing excess inventory and volatile demand requires more than better forecasting. It requires evidence that travels with the product itself.

By embedding identity directly into materials, SMX makes verification intrinsic rather than dependent on external records or explanations. Products carry their own proof through manufacturing, distribution, resale, and recycling. Trust shifts from assumption to confirmation.

When identity is anchored at the material level, verification can occur anywhere the product appears-regardless of who owns it or how much time has passed. That continuity reduces friction across resale, insurance, and regulatory environments.

For luxury brands navigating extended product lifecycles and tightening compliance standards, this represents a structural shift. Trust stops being something that erodes over distance and time. It becomes durable, transferable, and defensible.

In an industry where excess stock and supply-chain misalignment have revealed the limits of legacy trust, evidence is no longer optional. It is the new foundation of value.

Contact: Jeremy Murphy/ jeremy@360bespoke.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire