A privacy-preserving payment protocol using hierarchical Merkle trees and zero-knowledge proofs.

This protocol enables private, instant, and verifiable transactions through a three-layer architecture:

Global Tree (Public)
   └── Wallet Trees (Private)
          └── Channel Trees (Private)

All state transitions are validated using zero-knowledge proofs, ensuring privacy while maintaining verifiability.

• Privacy: Transaction details known only to sender and recipient
• Instant Settlement: No consensus requirements for basic operations
• Scalability: Hierarchical Merkle trees for efficient state management
• Trustless: All state transitions verified through ZK proofs
• Unilateral Updates: No recipient confirmation required for transfers

• docs/architecture.md - System architecture and components
• docs/protocol.md - Detailed protocol specification
• docs/proofs.md - Zero-knowledge proof system
• docs/security.md - Security analysis and guarantees

The protocol guarantees:

1. Transaction Privacy: Only sender and recipient know transaction details
2. Balance Privacy: All balances kept private through commitments
3. State Integrity: All updates cryptographically verified
4. Update Atomicity: Consistent state transitions
5. Proof Soundness: No invalid state transitions possible

See docs/architecture.md for a complete system overview and implementation guidelines.