Dark Null Protocol: Canonical Public Devnet Track

Private settlement on Solana, built for AI agent payments — not a mixer.

Send and receive value on Solana with on-chain unlinkability: withdrawals are cryptographically unlinkable to the deposits that funded them. The math proves a withdrawal is valid without revealing which deposit it came from. (Deposit amounts and depositors remain visible on-chain — see SECURITY_MODEL.md for the exact privacy boundary.)

Private settlement research on Solana, published without pretending more than the repo proves.

Dark Null's public edge is evidence density: the root verifier, circuit artifacts, manifest, IDL, SDK, and reproducible proof tests are published together. The repo is built to make serious claims traceable to code and hashes, not launch theater.

This repo now has one canonical public root:

• one program ID: 2stas3cZYnBiWpndcTXQDGLXwfQ7kjEYYrW52DsUAcxF
• one root manifest: MANIFEST.json
• one network map: NETWORKS.json
• one root IDL: idl/paradox.json
• one root circuit bundle: circuits/null_proof.circom, circuits/null_proof_final.zkey, circuits/null_proof_js/null_proof.wasm, circuits/vk.json
• one root verifier path: src/lib.rs + src/verifying_key.rs
• one published security model: SECURITY_MODEL.md
• one setup evidence file: CEREMONY.md
• one public claims ledger: docs/CLAIMS_LEDGER.md

Historical branches and artifact bundles are still published, but they are no longer the main integration target.

Search tags: solana, zk-snarks, zero-knowledge proofs, groth16, circom, bn254, privacy payments, anchor, snarkjs, solana program

🕶️ Why it matters to you

Money on a blockchain is public by default — anyone can see who paid whom, and how much. Dark Null fixes that:

• 🧾 Private receipts — prove a payment happened without exposing the amount or the counterparty.
• 🏢 Protect your edge — keep suppliers, payroll, and trading flows off the public ledger.
• 🔍 Still verifiable — published proofs mean "private" never means "just trust us."

Built for apps and teams that need payments to settle privately, with proof. (Pre-audit — see status below.)

How this fits the Parad0x stack

Parad0x Labs builds Web0 on Solana — money and agents that settle themselves. You are here: 🕶️ Privacy — the cloak over the x402 rail: same settlement, no payer attached.

Layer	Repo	Does
💸 Payments	dna-x402	x402 rail: quote → pay → verify → receipt → anchor
🛠️ Build	dna-x402-builders	Hosted kit: turn any API/bot into a paid agent
🕶️ Privacy	Dark-Null-Protocol (this repo)	Groth16 privacy settlement, published proofs
🗜️ Data	liquefy	Columnar compression that beats Zstd
🛡️ Audit	liquefy-openclaw-integration	Flight recorder: 24 engines + Solana-anchored audit trails
🎬 Media	nebula-media	Proof-carrying media compression — scene-aware + on-chain receipts
🧠 Local AI	nulla-local	Local-first agent runtime — your machine, your memory

See it live (a consumer app running on these rails): parad0xlabs.com

Market Position

Dark Null is the compact, evidence-first Solana privacy settlement track:

• 256-byte current groth16-solana verifier ABI
• 128-byte compressed proof target
• canonical artifact manifest with stable hash checks
• reproducible Groth16 proof flow
• explicit trusted-setup evidence with a mainnet blocker until final setup evidence exists
• payout-bound v2 withdraw path proving amount, receiver token account, and mint
• public launch gate that blocks unsupported mainnet claims

For launch copy and positioning, read docs/LAUNCH_NARRATIVE.md. For the release gate, read docs/MAINNET_READINESS.md and docs/MAINNET_RUNBOOK.md. For the delivered-vs-blocked claim boundary, read docs/CLAIMS_LEDGER.md. For external review, use the single handoff packet in docs/AUDITOR_HANDOFF.md. For an explicitly unaudited, capped mainnet beta lane, read docs/MAINNET_OPEN_BETA.md. For off-chain service operations and the x402 receipt boundary, read docs/OFFCHAIN_SWARM.md, docs/DNA_X402_INTEGRATION.md, and docs/PRIVATE_X402_PAYMENTS.md. For the public DNA x402 workspace map, read docs/DNA_X402_PUBLIC_WORKSPACE_MAP.md. For frontier work, read docs/2030_PRIMITIVES.md.

One Command Bootstrap

sh scripts/bootstrap.sh

That installs npm dependencies and runs the public repo checks.

If you want the extended validation path:

FULL_VALIDATION=1 sh scripts/bootstrap.sh

Canonical Network Selection

npm run config:devnet
npm run config:localnet

For machine-readable output:

npm run config:json:devnet

Canonical defaults also live in .env.example.

npm SDK

npm install @dark-null/protocol

For Anchor-based integrations:

npm install @dark-null/protocol @coral-xyz/anchor @solana/web3.js

What Is Canonical

Area	Root path
Program binding	MANIFEST.json, Anchor.toml, src/lib.rs
Network config	NETWORKS.json, .env.example, scripts/network-config.mjs
Verifier	src/verifying_key.rs, circuits/vk.json
Circuit artifacts	circuits/null_proof.circom, circuits/null_proof_final.zkey, circuits/null_proof_js/null_proof.wasm
Proof encoding	256-byte current groth16-solana verifier ABI; 128-byte compressed proof target
Private x402 receipts	swarm/x402.mjs, docs/PRIVATE_X402_PAYMENTS.md, DNA signed-receipt wrapper
Auditor handoff	docs/AUDITOR_HANDOFF.md
Trusted setup evidence	CEREMONY.md, scripts/check-ceremony-evidence.mjs
Public IDL	idl/paradox.json
JavaScript SDK	sdk/index.mjs, sdk/index.d.ts
Python helper client	client/dark_client.py
Canonical proof-flow test	tests/canonical-proof-flow.test.mjs

What Is Historical

Area	Historical path
Promoted provenance branch	historical/null-mint
Archived toy public root	historical/root-toy-prototype
Older full-cycle artifact bundle	LIVE_TEST_RESULTS.md, full_cycle_results.json

What This Repo Does Prove

• a real Groth16 verifier path is published in the root
• the root circuit, zkey, wasm, and vk are internally consistent
• the full local validation lane is reproducible with npm run test:all
• the root devnet/localnet selection now resolves through one published config surface
• root updates are no longer open to any signer in the current root source
• bounded root, leaf, and nullifier storage now fail closed instead of overwriting silently
• the legacy prepare_phantom_withdraw path fails closed instead of paying against proof-unbound arguments
• prepare_phantom_withdraw_v2 verifies the promoted eight-signal proof, binds amount/receiver token/mint, records the nullifier, and pays from the vault token account
• DNA x402 signed receipts can be wrapped into Dark Null private receipt envelopes without storing raw resource URLs or raw payment headers
• the repo has one canonical public root path instead of a placeholder root plus side branch
• a private x402 receipt DAG links each receipt hash to the previous node with no raw URL stored (6 tests pass)
• sequential Groth16 batch settlement verifies real proofs end-to-end and rejects duplicate nullifiers within the same batch (10 tests, real proofs generated via snarkjs/BN254)
• ZK access receipt prototype issues access only on a valid Groth16 proof without recording the payer's identity (20 tests pass)
• Piano PIR access pattern prototype retrieves an index entry without leaking which entry was queried (15 tests pass)
• BDHKE blind token issuance prototype produces tokens that cannot be linked back to the redeem call (19 tests pass)
• canonical devnet program 2stas3cZYnBiWpndcTXQDGLXwfQ7kjEYYrW52DsUAcxF verified executable on devnet (slot 468,709,388); npm run check:x402:devnet passes
• six x402 integration programs deployed on devnet and e2e verified: silent-pay (9C9F9Y8…), fiat-oracle (DjHQxF5…), threshold-fed (C6M8Nux…), accumulator (7VWjpxe…), inference (23yVqL6…), payment-stream (C5uhvm1…)
• full six-program integration demo passes end-to-end on devnet (node scripts/demo-x402-dark-null.mjs)

Mainnet Gates

All programs above are devnet. Clearing these gates unlocks a mainnet deployment claim:

• third-party audit of the root ZK program and the prepare_phantom_withdraw_v2 payout path
• mainnet deployment evidence committed to MAINNET_EVIDENCE.json
• accepted trusted setup evidence for the BN254 circuit
• defined key custody model for the privileged root updater (RootAuthorityConfig PDA)
• confirmation that all historical program IDs map to the current published root files

Switching devnet to mainnet in config alone is not sufficient.

Verification Flow

1. Run sh scripts/bootstrap.sh.
2. Run npm run config:devnet or npm run config:localnet.
3. Read MANIFEST.json, NETWORKS.json, and docs/PROGRAM_IDS.md.
4. Run npm run check:claims.
5. Run npm run check:swarm.
6. Run npm run check:x402.
7. Run npm run check:ceremony.
8. Run npm run test:all.
9. Run npm run check:x402:devnet when RPC access is available.
10. Run npm run check:mainnet:evidence and expect it to fail until MAINNET_EVIDENCE.json is real.
11. Run npm run check:mainnet:beta and expect it to fail until MAINNET_BETA_EVIDENCE.json is real.
12. Run npm run check:mainnet and expect it to fail until the blockers in docs/MAINNET_READINESS.md are cleared.

Frontier Primitives (20 Total)

Dark Null's research lane covers proof-carrying private settlement for machine and human payments. Twenty primitives across four tiers — these are gated research primitives, not launch claims — none are production claims until the corresponding evidence gates in docs/2030_PRIMITIVES.md are cleared.

Prototype code shipped (6)

Running tests; not deployed to production.

Primitive	What the tests prove
Dark Null x402 Privacy Extension	Private x402 intent → receipt → receipt-DAG flow; no raw URL or payer identity in any stored field
Receipt DAG / Append-Only Private Receipts	SHA256-linked receipt chains where each node hashes the previous; 6 tests
Recursive Settlement Batches	End-to-end Groth16 batch verify with real proofs; duplicate-nullifier rejection; 10 tests
ZK Access Receipts	Proof-gated access: present a Groth16 proof, get the resource; identity not recorded; 20 tests
Access Pattern Privacy (Piano PIR)	Private Information Retrieval: fetch an index entry without revealing which entry; 15 tests
BDHKE Blind Receipt Tokens	Blind Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange token issuance; token is unlinkable to the redeem call; 19 tests

Devnet programs (6) — wired into x402

Native Solana programs deployed on devnet; each has a passing e2e test and is wired into the x402 payment stack via integration/programs.mjs + integration/x402-hooks.mjs. Run scripts/demo-x402-dark-null.mjs to see all six fire in one agent session.

Primitive	Program ID (devnet)	What the on-chain program does
Silent Payment Rails	9C9F9Y8icd7tsnet4HtQU4LTkQMuAWWXAT97rR2eG6wV	BIP352-style ECDH stealth-address derive + scan; payer address not re-used across calls — not full BIP352; no on-chain scanner
Fiat Settlement Oracle	DjHQxF5pcZBqZtXX9niFpJsGuAUBs77v4dssuAdyFR4b	secp256k1_recover verifies oracle sig over SHA256(payment_id ‖ amount ‖ recipient); replay-protected receipt PDA — oracle-attested, not zkTLS
Threshold Blind Mint Federation	C6M8Nuxo1hj9QjPGAfYSXNwkDQEeRVuGZS4FqtjAQuVJ	k-of-n BDHKE via Shamir + Lagrange; records federation issuance with replay protection — no DKG or per-signer DLEQ proof
Receipt Commitment Accumulator	7VWjpxe2bBHChzMsqvPS8ZFJBRLaGkWTzM3Wrm36tnBd	Rolling SHA256(prev_commitment ‖ receipt_hash) with finalization gate; one root proves all receipts in a session — SHA256 accumulator, not Nova folding
Oracle-Attested Inference Receipt	23yVqL6UopoXLv3UihSKQ6EEpuxztWSKcHyKwdC9gM3v	secp256k1_recover verifies oracle sig over SHA256(model_hash ‖ input_hash ‖ output_hash); binds compute to x402 payment — oracle attestation, not EZKL ZK circuit
Private Streaming Micropayments	C5uhvm1SUxrZdzKAc3ZDHkVJbmrt7ntjhai6F7QHK6uP	Payment channel: OpenChannel funds a PDA, off-chain ticks track per-call spend, CloseChannel settles exact accumulated amount — no hidden-rate encryption

x402 integration (integration/x402-hooks.mjs):

• makeAccumulatorHook — drop-in onReceiptFinalized that commits every x402 receipt hash to the on-chain rolling root; one root proves the entire session
• makeInferenceHook — after each AI API call, records oracle-attested inference receipt on-chain; client can verify which model ran
• StreamingSession — wraps the streaming channel into per-call tick billing; session settle() does a single on-chain close

Research stage (7)

Design and specification only — no production code.

Primitive	What it would deliver
Compressed Anonymity / Nullifier State	On-chain anonymity-set storage shrinks from O(N) to O(log N) using sparse commitments
Proof-Carrying Relayer Swarm	Off-chain prover and indexer nodes carry verifiable execution receipts anyone can audit
Ephemeral Private Payment Sessions	One shared secret, many private payments — no persistent payment channel on-chain
Finality-Aware / Alpenglow-Ready Receipts	Receipt incorporates the final confirmed slot hash rather than an estimated slot
MPC Sealed Pricing / Private Auctions	Prices negotiated off-chain with multi-party computation; only settlement touches the chain
MEV-Aware Private Settlement Routes	Route around front-running without disclosing the payment path or amount
x402 Bazaar Private Reputation Receipts	Rate a paid API after settling — without linking the reviewer's identity to the rating

Blocked (1)

Primitive	Blocker
Confidential Token-2022 Linkage Privacy	Token-2022 Confidential Transfer extension audit completion and SIMD stabilization

Full specification, activation blockers, and forbidden marketing language for all 20: docs/2030_PRIMITIVES.md.

frontier_primitives:
  status: 6_prototype_code_6_devnet_programs_7_research_1_blocked
  base_delivered:
    - groth16_verifier_path
    - payout_bound_withdraw_v2
    - manifest_locked_artifacts
    - private_x402_receipt_primitives
  prototypes:
    - dark_null_x402_privacy_extension
    - receipt_dag_append_only
    - recursive_settlement_batches
    - zk_access_receipts
    - piano_pir_access_pattern_privacy
    - bdhke_blind_receipt_tokens
  devnet_programs:
    - silent_payment_rails: 9C9F9Y8icd7tsnet4HtQU4LTkQMuAWWXAT97rR2eG6wV
    - fiat_settlement_oracle: DjHQxF5pcZBqZtXX9niFpJsGuAUBs77v4dssuAdyFR4b
    - threshold_blind_mint_federation: C6M8Nuxo1hj9QjPGAfYSXNwkDQEeRVuGZS4FqtjAQuVJ
    - receipt_commitment_accumulator: 7VWjpxe2bBHChzMsqvPS8ZFJBRLaGkWTzM3Wrm36tnBd
    - oracle_attested_inference_receipt: 23yVqL6UopoXLv3UihSKQ6EEpuxztWSKcHyKwdC9gM3v
    - private_streaming_micropayments: C5uhvm1SUxrZdzKAc3ZDHkVJbmrt7ntjhai6F7QHK6uP
  research:
    - compressed_anonymity_state
    - proof_carrying_relayer_swarm
    - ephemeral_private_sessions
    - finality_aware_alpenglow_receipts
    - mpc_sealed_pricing
    - mev_aware_routes
    - x402_bazaar_private_reputation
  blocked:
    - confidential_token2022_linkage

For Integrators and Agent Builders

If you need...	Use Dark Null for...
privacy-oriented settlement research	deposit flows, root updates, proof artifact verification, and source/security review
public code review	root Rust program, circuits, client helpers, SDK, IDL, and historical evidence
machine-speed per-request API payments	use dna-x402 for HTTP negotiation and this repo's private x402 receipt primitives for Dark Null settlement binding

The large agent-commerce workspace lives in Parad0x-Labs/dna-x402: 346 Cargo workspace members, 17 Solana program entries, the TypeScript x402 package, NULL Miner SDK, builder surfaces, and Dark Null integration crates. The repo map is in docs/DNA_X402_PUBLIC_WORKSPACE_MAP.md.

Review Status

• No third-party audit has been completed yet.
• The repo includes an internal technical review summary in INTERNAL_REVIEW.md.
• The canonical root is now bound by MANIFEST.json.
• The current source security model is documented in SECURITY_MODEL.md.
• Historical program IDs are cataloged in docs/PROGRAM_IDS.md instead of being implied as one release.

License

Everything currently in this repository is released under the MIT License. See LICENSE.