How Does a Merkle Tree Enable “Simplified Payment Verification” (SPV)?
A Merkle Tree organizes all transactions in a block into a single root hash. SPV clients, typically light wallets, only need the block header and a small path of hashes, called a Merkle proof, to verify that a specific transaction was included in the block.
They do not need to download the entire blockchain, saving bandwidth and storage. This path confirms the transaction's inclusion without revealing all other transactions.