NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / There is a single moment that would hit the gold market harder than any interest rate shock, geopolitical headline or mining crisis. It is not a supply disruption. It is not a surge in demand. It is a policy decision. The moment a major bank, sovereign wealth fund or global exchange announces that it will only accept verified gold with persistent molecular identity is the moment the entire gold ecosystem splits in two. That announcement would not be symbolic. It would be seismic. It would turn legacy bullion into a discounted asset class overnight and elevate verified bullion into the only gold that truly counts.

The truth is that this moment is coming whether the industry wants to acknowledge it or not. Banks know their vaults contain bars they cannot fully authenticate. Sovereign funds know part of their reserves were acquired through systems that relied more on trust than science. Insurers know the risk model behind bullion storage is based on documentation that can be forged. The gold market has been operating on a fantasy of infallibility for decades, and the first institution to demand verifiable truth will force the entire world to face reality.

SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) is positioned at the epicenter of that shift. Its molecular identity system turns gold into a material that can prove itself instantly, no matter how many times it has been melted or recast. And it's showing itself at the right time.

One Institutional Mandate Could Change the World

Institutional mandates shape commodities more powerfully than market forces. When a major exchange changes acceptable standards, the entire global system realigns in days, not years. Gold is particularly vulnerable because its current verification system is built on assumptions rather than evidence. If Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, BlackRock or the Bank of England declares that only gold with embedded identity will qualify for trade, collateralization or reserve holdings, every bar lacking molecular proof becomes suspect instantly.

This is the beginning of a two-tier gold market. Verified gold becomes the premium tier, carrying higher prices, faster liquidity, and smoother cross-border movement. Unverified gold becomes the secondary tier, trading at discounts because no one can fully trust its origin, purity or legality. The spread between the two groups widens as institutions flee uncertainty. Once this dynamic begins, there is no going back. The market will never again value anonymous bullion the way it values verifiable bullion.

SMX is the force that enables the premium tier to exist. By embedding molecular identity inside the metal itself, the company gives institutions what they have never had: a forensic level of certainty that survives melting, splitting, and reuse. One scan reveals the truth. And in the world of institutional gold, truth is value.

Why Institutions Will Be Forced to Make the Call

The pressure building behind the scenes is relentless. Regulators are tightening anti-money-laundering rules. Sanctions agencies are tracking illicit gold flows with unprecedented scrutiny. Exchanges are reevaluating historical bars in their vaults. Insurers are rewriting policies to reflect authentication risk. Sovereign funds are under political pressure to ensure their reserves are clean. No institution wants to be the first to declare that legacy bullion is not fully trustworthy. But no institution wants to be the last to admit it either.

Eventually, one major player will break the silence. It will choose verified gold because the downside of staying with an unverifiable supply has become too large. The reputational risk is too high. The compliance burden is too heavy. The financial exposure is too opaque. And once that first domino falls, every other major institution will have to follow or risk holding assets the market no longer values equally.

SMX's balance sheet helps position it to meet this demand at the exact moment the call is made. It is no longer a startup pushing innovation uphill. It is a verification backbone with the capital to deploy across continents.

The Global Gold Standard of the Future Will Be Molecular

For decades, analysts predicted the world might return to a monetary gold standard. They missed the real revolution. The next gold standard will not be about currency. It will be about identity. Gold that can prove its origin, its purity, and its legality will rule global trade. Gold that cannot will trade in a shrinking, risk-ridden ecosystem that investors and governments increasingly avoid.

SMX is building that future. Its technology turns bullion into a self-authenticating asset and transforms the entire gold market into a system governed by evidence rather than assumption. The day a major institution demands verified gold is the day the global metals market resets. When that moment arrives, the only gold that matters will be the gold that can prove itself.

And SMX will be the company enabling that new language.

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.

Contact: info@securitymattersltd.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited