SMX and TruCotton Collaborate to Deliver a New Standard for Cotton Fiber Traceability

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 26, 2026 / There's a structural story playing out beneath the surface of the global supply chain, and it has little to do with trends or branding cycles. It's about what happens when materials stop being anonymous.

SMX has been building a platform that embeds identity into matter itself, allowing materials to carry proof rather than rely on reputation. That same logic appeared in the expansion into industrial rubber gloves, where anonymity was the reason recovery and accountability never stood a chance. In fashion, denim, and luxury goods, the issue shows up differently, but the root cause is identical. Once materials lose their identity, trust becomes an assumption rather than a fact.

This is where SMX's most recent deals fit together, not as isolated category plays, but as responses to a market that no longer accepts "trust me" as an answer. Start with the "luxury" category.

Reputation Breaks When Supply Chains Stretch

Luxury was built on reputation. A storied brand, a heritage workshop, a familiar label for decades, that was enough. Today's supply chains don't stay close to home. Products move through multiple manufacturers, processors, logistics hubs, resale platforms, and secondary markets. Documentation ages, certifications detach, and provenance gets diluted along the way.

When proof lives on paper, it eventually separates from the product. When that happens, even authentic goods lose their certainty. Trust weakens not because brands are dishonest, but because the system no longer preserves truth as materials move.

That vulnerability is exactly what SMX is designed to address. Take denim.

Denim Makes the Weak Spot Obvious

Denim is not couture, and that's why it matters. It's high-volume, heavily processed, blended, dyed, recycled, and reworked. Once cotton fibers are transformed, claims about recycled content or origin become impossible to verify unless the material itself carries that information forward.

SMX's expansion into denim and recycled denim puts stress on the system in the most honest way. If identity can persist through denim's complexity, it can persist anywhere. This turns recycled content from a claim into something measurable, enforceable, and verifiable, even after multiple transformations.

Denim becomes proof that scale does not have to destroy accountability. Here's the problem faced. Where denim exposes the flaw, luxury absorbs the consequences. In high-end fashion and couture, provenance is not a marketing add-on. It is part of the value. When authenticity cannot be verified beyond the point of sale, confidence erodes across resale markets, insurance underwriting, and long-term brand equity.

Traditional tools like certificates and audits were never designed to travel with the product indefinitely. They can be lost, forged, or separated. When identity is embedded directly into the textile or material, verification no longer depends on external documentation. It becomes intrinsic.

Luxury stops relying on assumptions and starts relying on evidence. SMX technology provides that difference. And it's a significant one.

Embedded Identity Changes Expectations

Once identity lives inside the material, verification becomes the default rather than the exception. Products can authenticate themselves as they move across borders, platforms, and owners. Recycled content can be confirmed instead of estimated. Regulators can observe compliance rather than infer it. Resale platforms gain confidence. Insurers gain clarity. Consumers gain certainty.

This shift quietly changes the economics of trust. Proof becomes portable. Accountability becomes continuous. Materials no longer need to be explained; they can be examined.

That's the architectural upgrade SMX is delivering across categories that were never designed for transparency.

Proof as Infrastructure

Viewed together, rubber gloves, denim, cotton, and luxury are not separate stories. They are iterations of the same thesis: proof has become infrastructure.

Modern commerce no longer revolves solely around physical goods. It revolves around certainty. Markets increasingly price confidence, not just craftsmanship. When materials carry persistent identity, they enable authentication across resale and reuse markets, verified recycled-content tracking, compliance that survives scrutiny, and risk assessment grounded in data rather than declarations.

This is not a premium feature reserved for luxury. It is becoming a functional requirement in global supply chains. Brands, regulators, and consumers are not asking for traceability out of idealism. They are demanding it because reputation alone can no longer carry the weight of complex, globalized production. Identity embedded at the material level restores the link between what something claims to be and what it actually is.

That is the connective tissue across SMX's recent deals. Materials should not lose their truth when they leave the factory. They should carry it with them. SMX's pace of deal-making in 2025 shows that principle being put to work, and its continuation into 2026 suggests the market is beginning to follow.

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

This information contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and assumptions regarding future events involving SMX , its technologies, its partnership activities, and its development of molecular marking systems for recycled PET and other materials. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts. They involve risks, uncertainties, and factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied.

Forward looking statements in this editorial include, but are not limited to, its announced capital facility and its terms, expectations regarding the integration of SMX's molecular markers into U.S. recycling markets; the potential for FDA-compliant markers to enable recycled PET to enter food-grade and other regulated applications; the scalability of SMX solutions across diverse global supply chains; anticipated adoption of identity-based verification systems by manufacturers, recyclers, regulators, or brand owners; the potential economic impact of turning recycled plastics into tradeable or monetizable assets; the expected performance of SMX's Plastic Cycle Token or other digital verification instruments; and the belief that molecular-level authentication may influence pricing, compliance, sustainability reporting, or financial strategies used within the plastics sector.

These forward-looking statements are also subject to assumptions regarding regulatory developments, market demand for authenticated recycled content, the pace of corporate adoption of traceability technology, global economic conditions, supply chain constraints, evolving environmental policies, and general industry behavior relating to sustainability commitments and recycling mandates. Risks include, but are not limited to, changes in FDA or international regulatory standards; technological challenges in large-scale deployment of molecular markers; competitive innovations from other companies; operational disruptions in recycling or plastics manufacturing; fluctuations in pricing for virgin or recycled plastics; and the broader economic conditions that influence capital investment and industrial activity.

Detailed risk factors are described in SMX's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of publication. SMX undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events, changes in circumstances, or new information, except as required by applicable law.

EMAIL: info@securitymattersltd.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

"Giving Materials Memory" to establish scientific proof of U.S. cotton origin, authenticity, and integrity at scale

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 26, 2026 / SMX (Security Matters) PLC (NASDAQ:SMX; SMXWW) ("SMX"), a global leader in material-embedded molecular identity and digital traceability, today announced a new initiative with TruCotton®, a U.S. cotton traceability and branding program, focused on advancing full-chain verification of U.S.-grown cotton.

The initiative is designed to establish a scientific, material-level method to authenticate U.S. cotton origin-transforming how origin, quality, and authenticity are verified as cotton moves through complex domestic and global supply chains.

From Documentation to Scientific Proof

U.S. cotton represents one of the world's largest and most strategically important natural-fiber markets, with approximately 15 million bales produced annually¹. Yet once cotton leaves the farm and enters aggregation, processing, and manufacturing, origin claims are typically supported by documentation rather than persistent physical evidence.² ³

SMX's technology can address this structural gap by embedding secure molecular markers directly into the cotton, enabling the material itself to carry verifiable proof of origin that can be authenticated at any point in the value chain.

This approach replaces assumption-based reporting with tamper-resistant, machine-readable evidence.

Lawson Gary, CEO of Wildwood Cotton Technologies, commented:

"U.S. cotton has long been valued for its quality and reliability, but once cotton moves beyond the farm gate, proving origin and integrity at scale becomes increasingly difficult. Advancing a solution that allows the material itself to carry verifiable proof of U.S. origin has the potential to strengthen trust across the supply chain - from growers and processors to brands and consumers.

This initiative reflects our commitment to protecting the value of U.S. cotton by moving from documentation-based claims toward evidence-backed authentication that can scale with the market."

What the Collaboration Is Designed to Achieve

The collaboration between SMX and TruCotton is focused on evaluating and validating the ability to:

• Apply SMX's molecular identity to U.S. cotton without impacting fibre quality or processing

• Maintain detectability and integrity through cotton handling, transformation, and manufacturing stages

• Link physical cotton to secure digital records for origin verification and product authentication

• Support scalable, regulator-ready traceability suitable for domestic and export markets

If validated, this capability would allow U.S. cotton to retain its authenticated identity well beyond the point where traditional traceability systems lose fidelity.

Strategic Importance for Brands, Manufacturers, and Trade

SMX believes that verified proof of origin is becoming increasingly critical as brands, retailers, and manufacturers face rising scrutiny around sourcing claims, trade compliance, and sustainability disclosures.

By enabling cotton to carry persistent, verifiable identity, SMX believes that:

• Brands gain stronger protection against substitution, dilution, or misrepresentation

• Manufacturers can substantiate U.S.-origin and quality claims with scientific certainty

• Supply-chain participants benefit from improved trust, auditability, and data integrity

• Exporters are better positioned to support origin-dependent trade frameworks and compliance requirements

This would mark a shift from process-based traceability to material-based verification.

Extending SMX's Cotton and Textile Platform

This initiative builds on SMX's broader work across cotton, recycled cotton, denim, and textile supply chains-where its molecular markers have demonstrated the ability to remain detectable through recycling, fibre blending, yarn spinning, fabric formation, and finished goods.

Applying these capabilities to U.S. cotton is expected to support the creation of a new class of premium, authenticated cotton inputs, enabling stronger differentiation, compliance, and long-term value creation.

Looking Ahead

As this initiative progresses, the objective is to deliver tangible, value-creating outcomes across the cotton ecosystem.

For TruCotton, scientifically verifiable, material-level origin proof would strengthen brand integrity, protect U.S. cotton differentiation, and enable TruCotton to move beyond documentation-based claims toward evidence-backed authentication that can be independently verified at scale.

For the broader cotton supply chain, persistent material identity is expected to improve trust, auditability, and efficiency-reducing friction between growers, ginners, mills, manufacturers, and brands. Verified origin data is expected to support compliance with trade and sourcing requirements, lower exposure to disputes and misclassification, and create a more transparent and resilient value chain.

For consumers, this capability is expected to enable greater confidence that products marketed as U.S.-origin cotton are exactly that. By linking physical materials to trusted digital records, the initiative intends to support clearer, more credible labeling and empower consumers to make informed purchasing decisions based on authenticity, provenance, and quality.

Together, these outcomes are expected to position U.S. cotton as a higher-value, verifiable input-strengthening trust from field to finished product and establishing a foundation for long-term differentiation in global markets.

END

References

#1. U.S. Cotton Production Scale

"According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. cotton production is routinely in the range of approximately 14-14.4 million 480-pound bales per year." https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/outlooks/113563/CWS-25k.pdf?v=82408&utm

#2. Cotton traceability typically uses documentation rather than material-level evidence

"In U.S. supply chains, cotton bales are tracked with a Permanent Bale Identification (PBI) tag and associated documentation through ginning, warehousing, and spinning, enabling traceability records but not independent material-embedded proof of origin."

https://www.cotton.org/tech/bale/pbi-specs.cfm?utm

#3. Broader traceability context in cotton supply chains

"Fully tracing cotton from the farm through processing to finished garments still depends on documented chain-of-custody and transaction records across multiple partners, rather than persistent physical verification at the fiber level."

https://thetraceabilityhub.com/mastering-cotton-traceability-from-farm-to-fashion-framework/#utm

For further information contact:

SMX GENERAL ENQUIRIES

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Email: info@securitymattersltd.com

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About TruCotton

TruCotton is a U.S.-grown natural cotton fiber brand produced by WildWood Cotton Technologies in the Mississippi Delta. TruCotton is 100% pure, mechanically cleaned cotton that retains its natural properties without chemical scouring or bleaching, resulting in inherently soft, hydrophobic, biodegradable, and sustainable fibers suitable for a wide range of textile and nonwoven applications. Its portfolio includes multiple grades and blended offerings designed for personal care, hygiene, technical textiles, and other industrial uses, and is produced in accordance with leading ecological and sustainability standards.

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: successful launch and implementation of SMX's joint projects and initiatives with manufacturers and other supply chain participants of steel, rubber, fabric 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; 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.

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / January 23, 2026 / Investors encountering 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 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 CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / January 23, 2026 / 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 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