SilkNode

Private by design. Built to evolve.

SilkNode is building a private-by-default payment network around a proof-of-work, multi-parent DAG: a graph in which records can reference more than one parent. The aim is practical payment speed, strong privacy and decentralized operation in one coherent system—not privacy added after the fact.

This is a research architecture under active development. Its advantages must be demonstrated, not assumed because the design is different.

The framework

Private state and payments

The core is being built around shielded transfers and cryptographic verification. The goal is to protect sender, recipient and amount while allowing nodes to check the rules. Protection against timing and network-level linking is a separate requirement, not something encryption alone establishes.

Ordering and consensus

The DAG and proof of work establish the structure from which nodes derive a shared execution order. The research question is whether this design can improve privacy-enabled payment performance without weakening safety or decentralization. That advantage is not yet proven.

Durable history and recovery

Authenticated storage, bounded synchronization and restart recovery are intended to let nodes grow and recover without repeatedly rebuilding their entire history. Recovery must preserve verified state and ownership—not quietly reset trust.

Networking and participation

The target is authenticated discovery and resilient private routing without one indispensable seed or operator. Open participation, resistance to network capture and measurable metadata protection remain active research and implementation work.

Modules and upgrades

The architectural goal is a small consensus-critical core with explicit, versioned boundaries for storage, networking, wallets and later features. Changes must preserve state and privacy guarantees or be rejected as incompatible. Consensus changes still require coordinated adoption; modularity is not a promise of risk-free upgrades.

Where we are

Demonstrated in bounded private prototypes

Shielded transfers, agreement between local nodes, recovery and restart behavior have been demonstrated in scoped tests. New work also computes straight-chain order in bounded chunks and resumes after a process restart without replaying completed work.

These are distinct results, not evidence that every component is already integrated into one finished network. Local test nodes are not independent operators, and correctness tests are not payment-speed or anonymity benchmarks.

Still being completed

General fork/merge ordering and its integration into node execution; multi-source discovery and open participation; measured network-metadata resistance; independent proof and consensus review; and reproducible privacy-enabled payment performance.

What “core complete” means

Independent operators must be able to run the network, make private payments, recover wallets, restart nodes and remain in agreement through faults. Privacy and performance must be assessed together. Upgrade compatibility and failure behavior must be reproducible, not just described.

Later interfaces and features build on that core. They do not substitute for completing it.

Private testnet research only. Test SILK has no value. This is not a completed production blockchain, a mainnet launch or a claim of proven superiority or anonymity.