Summary

This PR changes node-side payment verification for the existing 0x01 single-node proof format. It keeps the proof tag and wire serialization compatible, allows upgraded nodes to verify smaller quote bundles, and separates proof verification from receiver/admission placement checks.

The payment verifier now validates proof contents plus paid-quote issuer locality. The call sites decide whether this node is allowed to accept the write before payment verification runs:

• direct client PUT and fresh chunk replication require this node to be in the configured close group for the chunk address according to the local routing table
• fresh paid-list replication requires this node to be in the paid-list close group / K closest peers for the chunk address according to the local routing table
• the paid quote issuer must be in the configured close group for the quoted chunk address according to the verifier's local routing table

Added

• Flexible 0x01 single-node proof verification for any 1..=CLOSE_GROUP_SIZE quote bundle:
  • 0 quotes are rejected.
  • 1 quote is treated as the median-paid quote.
  • 2..=7 quotes are sorted by price and the median-priced quote is treated as the paid quote.
  • more than CLOSE_GROUP_SIZE quotes are rejected.
  • duplicate peer IDs are rejected.
• Paid median candidate verification without using SingleNodePayment::from_quotes, so partial bundles can be checked directly against completedPayments(quote_hash).
• Live checks for each paid median candidate:
  • quote content matches the chunk address
  • quote public key derives the claimed peer ID
  • quote ML-DSA signature verifies
  • paid quote issuer is in this node's local configured close group for the chunk address
  • quote price satisfies the local 20% price-floor tolerance
  • on-chain completedPayments(quote_hash) is at least 3 * median_price
• Direct client PUT storage responsibility in AntProtocol before payment verification/cache lookup.
• Context-aware verified-payment cache entries:
  • ClientPut entries satisfy later client PUT/fresh replication and paid-list lookups.
  • PaidListAdmission entries satisfy paid-list lookups only.
• PaymentVerifierConfig::close_group_size, wired from ReplicationConfig in production, devnet, and e2e test setup.
• AntProtocol::attach_p2p_node, so startup paths attach P2P through the protocol and keep direct PUT responsibility, paid-issuer, and merkle closeness checks wired consistently.
• Fresh-replication content-address validation before payment verification, matching direct PUT behavior.
• E2E/unit coverage for:
  • flexible single-node proof bundles
  • single-quote 3x payment requirement
  • paid-list cache entries not authorizing client PUTs
  • direct PUT storage responsibility running before payment cache hits
  • fresh chunk replication and paid-list notification propagation through a local testnet
  • merkle pay-yourself fabricated-pool rejection through the live DHT path

Changed

• PaymentVerifier::verify_payment no longer checks whether this node is a receiver/member for the request. VerificationContext now controls cache strength only.
• Paid quote issuer locality is checked against the configured close group, not K closest peers.
• Direct client PUTs reject locally when this node is not in the configured close group for the chunk address, even if payment is cached.
• Fresh chunk replication checks close-group responsibility before payment verification, then uses VerificationContext::ClientPut because the receiver immediately stores the chunk as part of fresh write fan-out.
• Fresh paid-list replication checks paid-list close-group / K membership before payment verification, then uses VerificationContext::PaidListAdmission so it writes a paid-list-strength cache entry.
• Quote pricing/verifier comments were updated from "freshness" terminology to local paid-quote price-floor terminology.
• Devnet, production node startup, and e2e testnet startup now attach P2P via AntProtocol rather than attaching only the verifier directly.

Removed

• Removed receiver/self membership checks from payment verifier functions.
• Removed the verifier's test-only receiver-membership override; direct PUT storage responsibility now has its own handler-level test override.
• Removed K-wide paid-quote issuer acceptance for single-node proofs.
• Removed the old VerificationContext::Replication proof-verification mode.
• Removed the old replication-verified cache level and replaced it with explicit PaidList vs ClientPut cache strength.
• Removed the exact-CLOSE_GROUP_SIZE requirement for single-node proof bundles.
• Removed full validation of non-median quotes in single-node proofs. Non-median quotes are now used only to derive the median price; the paid median candidate is the one whose content, peer binding, signature, issuer locality, local price floor, and on-chain payment are authoritative.
• Removed the old local-recipient/rewards-address check from single-node verification. Fresh receiver authorization now comes from call-site local placement checks before cache/proof verification, plus paid-issuer close-group locality for the paid quote.

Unchanged

• No new proof tag is introduced.
• Existing 7-quote 0x01 proofs remain valid.
• Merkle proof verification still runs candidate signature checks, candidate closeness, on-chain merkle payment lookup/cache, merkle proof validation, and per-node payment checks.
• Later neighbour-sync repair paths still do not carry proof bytes and do not call the payment verifier. They continue to use existing closest-set quorum and paid-list evidence.

Verification

Ran locally:

• cargo fmt --all -- --check
• git diff --check
• cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings
• cargo test --lib --features test-utils -- --nocapture — 526 passed
• cargo test --test e2e --features test-utils data_types::chunk::tests::test_chunk_store_retrieve_small -- --nocapture — passed, local minimal testnet
• cargo test --test e2e --features test-utils replication::test_fresh_replication_propagates_to_close_group -- --nocapture — passed, local replication testnet
• cargo test --test e2e --features test-utils replication::scenario_24_fresh_replication_propagates_paid_notify -- --nocapture — passed, local replication testnet
• cargo test --test e2e --features test-utils payment_flow::helper_tests::test_init_testnet_and_evm -- --nocapture — passed, local 10-node payment-enabled testnet + Anvil setup
• cargo test --test e2e --features test-utils merkle_payment::test_attack_merkle_pay_yourself_fabricated_pool -- --nocapture — passed, local merkle/DHT attack testnet

Note: scripts/test_e2e.sh was not run from this checkout because it requires target/release/ant-cli, which is not built/present in this repository checkout.