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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

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / The RENN Fund, Inc. (NYSE MKT:RCG) (the “Fund”) announced today a record date for the Fund’s year-end distribution. The record date will be December 16, 2025 and Pay-Date of December 29, 2025. The Fund will make an announcement on or about December 16, 2025 with the distribution rate per share. As the per share rate will not be available prior to the record date, the Fund will trade with due bills beginning December 16, 2025, and up through and including the last business day prior to the New York Stock Exchange established Ex-Date. The New York Stock Exchange will set the Ex-Date once the per share rate has been announced.

Disclosures:

Fund shares are subject to investment risk, including possible loss of principal invested. No fund is a complete investment program and you may lose money investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund may not be appropriate for all investors. Additional information about the Fund, including performance and portfolio characteristics, is available at https://horizonkinetics.com/investment-strategies/renn-fund-inc-nyse-rcg/.

About Horizon Kinetics LLC

Horizon Kinetics Holding Corporation (OTC:HKHC), through its subsidiary investment manager, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC (“Horizon”), is an investment advisory firm and the Investment Advisor to the Fund. Horizon provides independent proprietary research and investment advisory services for long-only and alternative value-based investing strategies, including the full suite of Kinetics Mutual Funds, Inc. The firm has offices in New York City, White Plains, New York and Summit, New Jersey. For more information, please visit Horizon’s websites below:

http://www.horizonkinetics.com
http://www.kineticsfunds.com.

Contact:
Jay Kesslen
Email: jkesslen@horizonkinetics.com
Phone: (646) 495-7333

SOURCE: RENN FUND INC

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Gold markets are built on confidence. Vaults trust refiners. Refiners trust suppliers. Banks trust custody chains. Investors trust the entire system to uphold purity, legality, and origin with near-religious certainty. But that confidence is a façade, and it only takes one failure to expose it. The moment a major vault or global bank uncovers a counterfeit bar inside its inventory, the shock will hit the market like a blast wave. Trading will not slow. It will convulse. Prices will not adjust gently. They will whiplash as institutions scramble to determine which bars they can authenticate and which they cannot.

The gold industry knows this risk. It has lived through smaller versions of it. In past discoveries, adulterated bars were found with tungsten cores, falsified refinery stamps, or mismatched serial numbers. Those incidents were contained only because they were caught early and quietly. But the next one will not be quiet. The volumes are too large. The supply chains are too global. The trust layer is too thin. A counterfeit bar in a major Western vault would rip through markets, calling every legacy verification method into question.

The uncomfortable truth is that legacy bullion verification has no way to prevent this kind of shock. Once a bar melts, its identity melts with it. Once it is recast, its history resets. That fragility is the fault line running through the global gold economy. And it is the fault line that SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) is now eliminating.

The Panic Doesn’t Start With Fraud, It Starts With Doubt

When the first counterfeit bar is discovered inside a major vault, the initial reaction will not be anger. It will be uncertainty. If one bar is compromised, how many others carry the same risk? If one supplier’s chain of custody breaks, how many others have been over-trusted? If one refiner’s stamp can be forged, how many others can be replicated? Markets do not panic when they see the problem. They panic when they can no longer measure it.

This is where the shock becomes systemic. Vaults will halt withdrawals to audit inventory. Banks will suspend bullion collateralization. Sovereign funds will call for emergency authentication of reserves. Exchanges will pause settlements to avoid taking contaminated metal. The freeze becomes global because no one wants to move gold that they cannot prove. Liquidity collapses, not because the gold is gone, but because the truth is.

This is exactly why SMX’s molecular identity technology matters. The company embeds an immutable molecular fingerprint inside the metal itself. Even if the bar is melted, the identity survives. Even if it is recast, the history remains intact. This prevents doubt from escalating into panic, as institutions can instantly authenticate their holdings rather than re-auditing decades of supply.

How SMX Turns a Market Crisis Into a Market Reset

But, if panic prevails, expect the market to separate into two groups: gold with verifiable identity and gold that must be trusted blindly. Verified bullion will become the safe haven within the safe haven, the only form of gold that banks, sovereigns, and exchanges will accept without hesitation. Unverified bullion will be treated like distressed inventory. Buyers will demand steep discounts. Liquidity will evaporate. Regulation will tighten. The maps of global gold flows will redraw themselves overnight.

This divide is not theoretical. It is already forming. The DMCC is building a verification-first ecosystem. Goldstrom and other advanced refiners are embracing molecular identity to eliminate risk. Vaults are preparing for future audits by integrating tech-driven authentication. These early adopters are positioning themselves on the right side of the coming reset, where proof replaces legacy trust networks.

That move is timely. Verification is no longer a boutique upgrade. It is becoming the global standard. The institutions that adopt it early will retain pricing power, liquidity, and regulatory confidence. The ones that delay will be left holding gold that the market no longer values equally.

One Counterfeit Bar Can Break Confidence

Confidence is the backbone of the gold market, but confidence without verification is a liability. All it takes is one compromised bar to expose the weakness of a system that still relies on documentation instead of material truth. The next counterfeit discovery will not be contained. It will be catalytic. It will expose the fragility of the entire global bullion chain.

SMX offers the firewall that the market has been missing. It gives gold a memory. It gives institutions certainty. It turns panic into precision. And it ensures that when the inevitable discovery of a counterfeit finally detonates, the world will not descend into chaos. It will pivot toward proof.

That’s the path of least resistance. Because the next era of gold’s value will not come from rarity alone. It will come from identity. The market will remember which companies made that transformation possible. It won’t be hard to remember: SMX is one of one.

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

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / December 4, 2025 / Every modern system relies on accurate inputs. Financial markets depend on audited disclosures. Manufacturing depends on precise measurements. Logistics depends on reliable tracking. Yet despite all the sophistication built into global industry, one problem has lingered for decades. The physical world has never had a universal truth layer.

Materials move through factories, recyclers, transport hubs, and suppliers without carrying definitive proof of where they came from, what they contain, or how they were handled. SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) is stepping directly into that gap with a verification infrastructure that allows physical goods to retain their identity from creation through recovery, and its Plastic Cycle Token (PCT) is emerging as the mechanism that expresses that proof in a usable digital form.

The reason this matters is simple. Industrial systems fail when information breaks down. Companies make decisions based on assumptions, estimates and declarations that cannot be independently validated. When input data is unreliable, every downstream decision becomes riskier.

A Frictionless Market Layer

SMX introduced a verification model built on molecular identity rather than paperwork or reporting. A material can now carry its own history, embedded at the molecular level, and that history can be confirmed at any point along the supply chain. When those verified events are captured through the Plastic Cycle Token framework, they become structured information that businesses can rely on.

This solves a structural limitation that has existed in manufacturing, recycling, and global trade for as long as those systems have operated. For generations, companies have wanted to create digital representations of physical events. They wanted to track recycled content with confidence. They wanted to authenticate sourcing. They wanted to measure recovery in ways that were immune to interpretation. But without accurate verification, none of that was possible. SMX removes that barrier by allowing materials to generate their own evidence. This is not a theoretical breakthrough. It is a practical and deployable system, and industries are responding to it.

The Plastic Cycle Token represents far more than sustainability auditing. It reflects a fundamental shift in how companies capture and transmit information about materials. Verified recovery becomes a reliable data point. Verified origin becomes a reliable data point. Compliance itself becomes a measurable record rather than a certified statement.

These events gain value because they remove uncertainty. Instead of asking stakeholders to trust that materials were responsibly handled, the PCT provides scientifically validated proof of what occurred.

Interest is Growing for the Right Reasons

Interest in SMX continues to grow because the company is not positioning itself as a niche solution. It is positioning itself as foundational infrastructure. Every sector that relies on materials can benefit from accurate verification. Consumer goods companies can reduce risk and improve brand protection. Manufacturers can meet rising compliance requirements without relying on inconsistent audits. Recycling operations can demonstrate outputs with traceable accuracy. Entire supply chains gain transparency that was previously impossible.

This is what gives the Plastic Cycle Token staying power. It is not a symbolic representation or a marketing tool. It is a format for capturing verified activity in a way that partners, regulators, and commercial systems can understand. It translates the physical world into structured information that can be shared, analyzed, and acted upon. As more industries look to modernize their reporting and strengthen resilience, the ability to rely on verified material-level truth becomes a competitive advantage.

SMX is delivering something that global commerce has needed for decades. It is building a truth layer for the real world. When companies can finally trust the data behind the materials they use, the entire system becomes more efficient, more accountable and more aligned with the expectations of modern markets. SMX is not imagining a future where this type of verification becomes standard. It is constructing the framework that brings that future into focus.

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

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire