SMX Announces Expansion into Denim and Recycled-Denim to Help Fashion Brands Reduce Excess Stock and Increase Verified Recycled Content

Rhea-AI Summary

SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) announced it will expand its material-embedded identity platform into denim and recycled-denim, targeting a Q1 2026 market entry to help brands authenticate origin, verify recycled-content, and trace garments across supply chains.

The release cites a global denim market forecast of USD 121.50 billion by 2030 (CAGR ~5.9%) and highlights industry challenges including excess stock and degraded recycled feedstock integrity; SMX positions its technology to convert waste streams into verifiable, higher-value inputs for reuse and recycling.

Positive

• Planned market launch in Q1 2026 for denim and recycled-denim
• Targets a global denim market projected at USD 121.50B by 2030 (CAGR ~5.9%)
• Enables verified recycled-content and origin authentication for denim supply chains

Negative

• Regulators are moving toward mandatory disclosure, increasing compliance scope
• Post-consumer and post-industrial textile streams often lose feedstock integrity, limiting recycled-content reliability

Key Figures

Global denim jeans market 2024 USD 86.66 billion Market size estimate for 2024

Global denim jeans market 2025 USD 91.19 billion Market size estimate for 2025

Global denim jeans market 2030 USD 121.50 billion Projected market size by 2030

Denim CAGR 5.9% Projected CAGR for global denim jeans market 2024–2030

Annual jeans volume 4.5 billion pairs Estimated number of jeans sold worldwide annually

Excess fashion items 2023 (low) 2.5 billion items Lower end of estimated excess stock produced in 2023

Excess fashion items 2023 (high) 5 billion items Upper end of estimated excess stock produced in 2023

Excess stock value 2023 USD 70–140 billion Estimated value range of excess fashion stock in 2023

Market Reality Check

$20.65 Last Close

Volume Volume 602,904 vs 20-day average 1,482,956, indicating activity below recent norms before this news. low

Technical Shares at 84.95, trading below the 200-day MA of 1,688.99 and far under the 52-week high of 66,187.29.

Peers on Argus 3 Down

SMX was down 27.03% with 3 closely rated peers (NISN, SFHG, PMAX) also in momentum scanners, each moving down between about -6.74% and -9.75%. Broader sector dynamics appear to be pressuring related names alongside SMX.

Common Catalyst No same-day peer news reported; sector weakness appears driven by broader dynamics rather than a shared headline catalyst.

Historical Context

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Dec 29	Regulation value driver	Positive	-27.0%	Highlighted regulation as main value driver for material verification platform.
Dec 29	Platform strategy	Positive	-27.0%	Framed molecular identity as cross‑industry platform from plastics to metals.
Dec 29	Regulatory enforcement	Positive	-27.0%	Argued enforcement benefits testable identity for recycled content and provenance.
Dec 29	Continuity focus	Positive	-27.0%	Described shift from trust to engineered continuity in global supply chains.
Dec 29	Integrity blueprint	Positive	-27.0%	Positioned molecular markers as blueprint for intrinsic supply chain integrity.

Pattern Detected

Recent SMX news with positive strategic and regulatory positioning has coincided with sharp negative price reactions, suggesting a pattern of selling into ostensibly favorable narratives.

Recent Company History

Over the past day, SMX released multiple pieces of messaging on Dec 29, 2025 framing its molecular identity platform as central to tightening supply-chain regulation, emphasizing cross‑material scalability, continuity, and regulatory-driven demand. Despite positioning regulation as a key value driver and highlighting non‑dilutive capital and long‑term partnerships, the stock moved -27.03% across these events. Today’s denim and recycled‑denim expansion continues that theme of applying the same platform into additional regulated material categories.

Market Pulse Summary

The stock dropped -39.4% in the session following this news. A negative reaction despite the strategic denim expansion would fit recent patterns where positive platform and regulatory narratives on Dec 29, 2025 coincided with a -27.03% move. The stock was already trading well below its 200-day MA and far under its 52-week high, suggesting fragility ahead of this announcement. Prior reverse stock splits and financing steps from recent 6-K filings add structural considerations that could amplify downside when sentiment weakens.

Key Terms

circular supply chains technical

"convert waste from an opaque liability into a more valuable commodity within circular supply chains"

Circular supply chains keep materials and products in use by designing reuse, repair, refurbishment and recycling back into how goods are made and sourced, instead of sending waste to landfill. Like a household that fixes and reuses appliances to save money, companies operating circular chains can cut raw‑material costs, reduce regulatory and reputational risks, and create new revenue streams from second‑life products, all of which affect future cash flow, margins and investment risk.

recycled content technical

"Brands face increasing pressure to raise recycled-content percentages and substantiate claims"

Recycled content is the portion of a product, package, or raw material that comes from previously used or discarded items that have been reprocessed for reuse. Investors watch this metric because higher recycled content can reduce material costs, lower environmental risk, and help companies meet regulations or customer expectations—similar to a factory using salvaged parts instead of buying all new ones, which affects reputation, compliance, and long-term profitability.

Digital Product Passport regulatory

"Digital Product Passport framework - Regulatory drivers for traceability, recycled content"

A digital product passport is an online record that stores verified information about an item's origin, materials, manufacturing, ownership history, certifications and repair or recycling options — like a passport for a physical product. Investors care because it makes supply chains and compliance transparent, helping assess regulatory risk, durability, resale value and brand trust; clearer data can reduce surprises, legal exposure and costs tied to sustainability or safety rules.

reverse stock split financial

"announced a reverse stock split at an 8:1 ratio, effective upon the opening"

A reverse stock split is when a company reduces the number of its shares outstanding, making each share more valuable. For example, if you own 100 shares worth $1 each, a 1-for-10 reverse split would turn your 100 shares into 10 shares worth $10 each. Companies often do this to boost their stock price and appear more stable to investors.

convertible promissory notes financial

"agreed to new convertible promissory notes with an aggregate principal amount of $5.0 million"

A convertible promissory note is a loan a company takes that can later be turned into shares instead of being paid back in cash; think of lending money now in exchange for a voucher that can become ownership later. Investors care because it mixes credit risk and potential ownership upside—it can protect lenders if a company struggles while also diluting existing shareholders when converted, affecting future share value and investor returns.

equity line of credit financial

"separate from a $100 million equity line of credit"

An equity line of credit is a loan that allows homeowners to borrow money against the value of their property, similar to having a flexible credit card secured by their home. It matters to investors because it provides a way for property owners to access cash for various needs, which can influence real estate markets and overall economic activity. This type of credit offers ongoing borrowing capacity, making it a valuable financial tool for those with significant property equity.

original issue discount financial

"notes with an aggregate principal amount of $5.0 million and a 20% original issue discount"

Original issue discount (OID) is the difference between a debt security’s face value and the lower price at which it is first sold, treated as additional interest that accrues over the life of the instrument. For investors it matters because OID raises the effective yield and changes taxable income and the holding’s cost basis over time — think of buying a $100 voucher for $90 and recognizing the $10 gain as earned interest as the voucher approaches maturity.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

"Giving Materials Memory" enables denim to be authenticated, traced & reintroduced as a higher-value, verifiable input for reuse and recycling

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / December 30, 2025 / SMX (Security Matters) PLC (NASDAQ:SMX; SMXWW) ("SMX"), a global pioneer in material-embedded identity and digital traceability, today announced that it intends to enter the denim and recycled-denim segment in Q1 2026, extending its cotton-based material identity capabilities into one of the world's largest apparel categories.

Publicly available market research estimates the global denim jeans market at approximately USD 86.66 billion in 2024, rising to USD 91.19 billion in 2025, and projecting growth to USD 121.50 billion by 2030 (CAGR ~5.9%). ² ³ ⁴

Separately, industry supply-chain analysis has estimated that more than 4.5 billion pairs of jeans are sold worldwide annually ³ ⁴, underscoring denim's scale and cultural relevance across demographics.

Why Denim, Why Now

SMX believes that fashion brands are under increasing pressure to manage volatility in demand, minimize overproduction, and substantiate sustainability claims. McKinsey's State of Fashion 2025 report estimates that the fashion industry produced 2.5 to 5 billion items of excess stock in 2023, worth $70 billion to $140 billion.¹

Denim has been reported to be central to youth and lifestyle markets, and SMX believes that denim sits at the intersection of high-volume production, premium brand positioning, and a growing consumer preference for recyclability, recycled materials, authenticity, and origin integrity.

Brands face increasing pressure to raise recycled-content percentages and substantiate claims with credible, auditable data.⁵⁶ And regulators are moving toward mandatory disclosure on excess stock, recycled content and product sustainability. ⁷

SMX Solution: Material-Embedded Identity for Denim and Recycled Denim

SMX provides a deployed physical-to-digital platform that embeds secure molecular identity into materials and links those materials to tamper-resistant digital records. This is the basis of SMX's proposition of "Giving Materials Memory"-so that a material retains verifiable information about origin, composition, and lifecycle events even after transformation and movement through complex supply chains.

Applied to denim and recycled-denim, SMX's platform can support:

• Authentication & origin verification for premium denim programs, including origin-linked and quality-linked claims

• Verified recycled-content integrity, helping prevent substitution, dilution, or misrepresentation of recycled inputs across blending and manufacturing steps

• Traceability across the denim lifecycle, from material input to finished garment and through downstream channels

Leveraging SMX's Experience in Cotton-Based Material Systems

SMX's expansion into denim builds on its existing experience in marking and authenticating cotton-based materials, where its material-embedded identity technology has been applied to support:

• persistent material identity across multiple transformation stages

• authentication and integrity verification in finished products

• alignment with responsible-sourcing objectives and value-chain transparency requirements

This denim-focused market entry represents a natural extension of that capability into a category where cotton remains the foundational fibre, while also opening opportunities to support recycled-denim and circular-material initiatives as adoption of recycled inputs continues to evolve.

Turning Denim Waste into a Higher-Value, Verifiable Input for Reuse and Recycling

A core challenge in scaling recycled content is that many post-industrial and post-consumer textile streams lose integrity once mixed, processed, or traded-reducing confidence in recycled feedstock quality and claims.

By giving denim materials persistent identity, SMX's technology is designed to enable waste streams-such as production offcuts, unsold inventory, and end-of-life garments-to be recognized and transacted as a more credible, verifiable input for reuse and recycling. This could help convert waste from an opaque liability into a more valuable commodity within circular supply chains, supporting both sustainability outcomes and improved economics.

Timing and Commercial Focus

SMX expects its denim and recycled denim offering to enter the market in Q1 2026, to support engagement with denim ecosystem participants across fibre, mills, manufacturers, brands, and circularity partners.

END

References

#1. Business of Fashion & McKinsey & Company
The State of Fashion 2025 - Inventory, excess stock and supply-chain inefficiencies in the global fashion industry.
https://www.businessoffashion.com
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/the-state-of-fashion

#2. Statista
Global Denim Jeans Market Size and Forecast (2024-2030) - Market value, growth projections and CAGR for denim apparel.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/734419/global-denim-jeans-market-retail-sales-value/?srsltid=AfmBOooQh4wzKPDwyEw9FEkHcSF7EeImY2HF1pfqRiEHpP98L0IZSO2O

#3. Grand View Research
Denim Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report - Global denim market valuation and outlook.
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/denim-jeans-market

#4. Fortune Business Insights
Denim Jeans Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis - Global denim consumption and growth forecasts.
https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/denim-products-market-104514

#5. Textile Exchange
Preferred Fiber & Materials Market Report - Data on recycled cotton, organic cotton adoption, and sustainability trends.
https://textileexchange.org/app/uploads/2022/10/Textile-Exchange_PFMR_2022.pdf

#6. McKinsey & Company
Fashion on Climate and sustainability insights - Overproduction, inventory waste, recycled-content targets and circularity challenges.
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/fashion-on-climate

#7. European Commission
Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and Digital Product Passport framework - Regulatory drivers for traceability, recycled content and excess-stock disclosure.
https://www.fitreach.eu/article/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation-espr-regulation-what-companies-need-know#:~:text=Information%20and%20Traceability%20(Digital%20Product,of%2Dlife%20and%20recycling%20information
https://www.manutan.com/blog/en/circular-economy/eu-ecodesign-regulation-the-eus-new-requirements#:~:text=Products%20must%20be%20designed%20to,Environmental%20footprint

For further information contact:

SMX GENERAL ENQUIRIES		Follow us through our social channel @secmattersltd
E: info@securitymattersltd.com		@smx.tech

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 existing or future joint projects 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 Commission.

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters)

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

FAQ

When will SMX (SMX) launch its denim and recycled-denim offering?

SMX expects to enter the denim and recycled-denim market in Q1 2026.

How does SMX verify recycled content for denim (SMX)?

SMX embeds a persistent molecular identity into materials and links it to tamper-resistant digital records to verify origin and recycled-content integrity.

What denim market size is SMX targeting with its expansion (SMX)?

The release cites a global denim market forecast of USD 121.50 billion by 2030 (CAGR ~5.9%).

What supply-chain problems does SMX aim to solve for denim brands (SMX)?

SMX aims to reduce overproduction risks, authenticate origin, and prevent substitution or dilution of recycled inputs.

Will SMX's denim solution help convert unsold inventory into reusable feedstock (SMX)?

SMX says its persistent material identity is designed to make offcuts, unsold inventory, and end-of-life garments verifiable for reuse and recycling.

What regulatory trends affect SMX's denim initiative (SMX)?

The announcement notes regulators moving toward mandatory disclosure on excess stock, recycled content, and product traceability, increasing traceability demand.