Proof Is Becoming the Embedded Currency Standard in Sustainability

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / February 3, 2026 /For years, sustainability has been treated as a narrative exercise. Companies publish targets, regulators issue frameworks, and auditors sign off on methodologies that rely heavily on trust. The problem is not intent. The problem is verification. When sustainability depends on declarations rather than detection, the system invites ambiguity, loopholes, and ultimately disbelief.

That credibility gap is now closing. Not because of better storytelling, but because of better infrastructure. The shift underway is simple but profound. Sustainability is moving away from promises and toward proof. And it 's being made possible through a platform and technology created by SMX (NASDAQ:SMX)

Why Claims No Longer Carry Weight

Most ESG and circularity programs still operate on self-reported data. A supplier claims recycled content. A brand aggregates that claim into a report. A regulator reviews the paperwork. At no point is the material itself asked to verify the story being told about it.

That disconnect has real consequences. It creates regulatory risk, legal exposure, and reputational volatility. It also slows adoption, because investors and policymakers increasingly recognize that unverifiable claims are not a durable foundation for compliance or capital allocation.

As global rules tighten, especially around plastics, waste accountability, and extended producer responsibility, the tolerance for unverifiable sustainability is shrinking fast.

Embedding Identity Into Materials

SMX approaches the problem from a different angle. Instead of tracking documents, it tracks matter.

Its technology embeds molecular-level markers directly into materials such as plastics, rubber, and metals. These markers are invisible, durable, and survive industrial processes including melting, shredding, and recycling. Each batch of material carries a unique physical identity that can be detected and authenticated at any point in its lifecycle.

This matters because it shifts sustainability from a reporting layer to a verification layer. The material itself becomes the evidence.

Every scan generates a data record tied to that physical marker. That record is immutable, auditable, and shareable across manufacturers, recyclers, regulators, and brands. Sustainability stops being an assertion and starts becoming a measurable fact.

From Circularity Theory to Circularity Data

Circular economy frameworks often fail at the moment of measurement. Recycling rates are estimated. Credits are issued based on assumptions. Outcomes are inferred rather than confirmed.

SMX closes that gap by verifying recycled content at the material level. When recycled material is detected and authenticated, it can be registered, counted, and monetized based on reality rather than estimates. This is where the Plastic Cycle Token enters the picture, not as a speculative construct, but as a representation of verified circular activity.

The distinction is critical. Traditional credits reward intention. Verified tokens reward execution. Markets understand the difference immediately.

Infrastructure Beats Voluntary Compliance

In that sense, SMX is not a consumer brand, and it is not a marketing tool. It is infrastructure.

Its customers include manufacturers, recyclers, brands, and public entities that face real compliance obligations. By embedding verification directly into production and recovery processes, SMX aligns sustainability with operational necessity rather than discretionary reporting.

That positioning matters as digital product passports, recycling mandates, and traceability requirements expand across Europe, Asia, and beyond. In regulated environments, proof scales better than persuasion.

Why Investors Are Paying Attention

From an investment perspective, verification reduces uncertainty. It lowers regulatory risk. It tightens auditability. It transforms sustainability from a cost center into a measurable performance layer.

SMX 's model spans proprietary markers, detection systems, enterprise software, and registry services. Each layer creates recurring revenue opportunities tied to usage, compliance, and verification events. Growth is linked to adoption and enforcement, not marketing cycles.

In markets where credibility is increasingly priced, proof becomes an asset.

The End of Sustainability by Assertion

As the world is learning, the sustainability era built on promises is fading. What replaces it will be built on evidence.

SMX is not asking the market to believe. It is giving the market the ability to verify. That distinction changes everything. When materials can speak for themselves, trust stops being subjective and starts being structural.

What SMX is saying comes down to a simple premise: Proof, not promise, is becoming the new currency.

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.

SMX GENERAL ENQUIRIES

Email: info@securitymattersltd.com

SOURCE:SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

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