Compound v3
Compound v3 supply, borrowing, and claimable rewards
Compound v3 supports lending and borrowing around one base asset per market, with separate accounting for interest and claimable rewards. The base asset is the token that the market lends to borrowers. Supplying it earns interest when the supply rate is positive; supplying accepted collateral supports borrowing. Rewards depend on the market configuration and qualifying base-asset activity. Depositing collateral alone does not establish reward accrual. A position balance, an accrued reward amount, and a completed reward transfer describe different states. Understanding those differences helps connect supply and borrow actions with their costs, claimable tokens, and eventual withdrawal.
Recording a supply or borrow position before claiming rewards
To establish reward-bearing participation, compare base-asset supply and borrowing by the same condition: whether the resulting balance qualifies for reward tracking.
Start with the selected market and account, including any existing debt. For a supply, the intended result is a positive base balance after repayment of existing borrowing. For a borrow, the intended result is an outstanding base debt backed by sufficient accepted collateral. For either position to accrue rewards, its side must have a nonzero tracking speed and meet the market-wide reward threshold.
- Confirm the selected network, market, base token, and account that will hold the position.
- Check the relevant reward speed and market threshold before expecting new accrual.
- For supply, authorize the required token transfer before submitting the deposit.
- For borrowing, authorize the collateral token transfer and supply eligible collateral first. Check borrowing capacity, minimum debt, available base tokens, and withdrawal pause status before withdrawing the base asset to create debt.
- After execution, compare the recorded supply or borrow balance with the intended position and refresh the account's reward calculation.
A newly recorded position does not promise an immediately visible reward amount. Eligible elapsed time, tracking precision, and account accrual affect that amount. Confirm that the correct account holds the intended qualifying balance. After claiming, verify that the transaction transferred the expected reward token amount to the intended recipient. If the recorded position or payment differs from what you expected, check the account and transaction details before repeating the action.
The base asset and collateral have different jobs
Each Compound v3 market uses a Comet contract with one base asset and a configured set of collateral assets, which perform different functions within an account. Base suppliers provide the asset that borrowers receive. Collateral supplies borrowing capacity according to each asset's price and borrow collateral factor. A collateral supply cap limits how much of that asset the market accepts.
Collateral assets supplied to Compound v3 do not earn protocol interest. Holding collateral therefore does not create the same earning position as supplying the base asset. The account's base balance also nets supply against borrowing: a base deposit first reduces existing debt. Only the positive remainder becomes an interest-bearing supply balance. This distinction matters when a transaction's label says supply, while its economic effect is repayment.
When does base-asset activity earn rewards?
Base-asset activity earns tracked rewards when the account participates on a side whose reward speed and market threshold permit accrual.
Supply and borrow eligibility
Comet maintains separate tracking indices for suppliers and borrowers. The supply index uses total supply principal; the borrow index uses total borrow principal. Each side advances only when its aggregate principal meets
baseMinForRewards, and a zero tracking speed produces no new rewards. This threshold applies to market totals rather than an individual deposit quota. Account accrual then reflects its principal and the change in the relevant tracking index.
Time and the active configuration
Elapsed time contributes to tracking under the applicable configuration. Governance can change the parameters through an upgrade, so an earlier reward rate does not establish future accrual. Participation also needs a configured reward token before tracking can translate into a claim. Interest and rewards follow separate calculations; an account can earn supply interest without earning additional reward tokens.
Accrued tracking, claimable tokens, and payment
Comet records reward tracking, while a separate rewards contract calculates and transfers the configured reward token. These records answer different questions about the same account.
The accrued tracking balance
The
baseTrackingAccrued
value represents accumulated tracking units. Its raw value is not necessarily the wallet-ready token amount. The rewards contract applies the configured conversion, including scaling and any multiplier. A stored account value can also lag a calculation that first accrues the account.
The claimable balance
Entitlement after previous claims
getRewardOwed
calculates accrued entitlement after accounting for previous claims. It returns both the reward token and the unpaid amount. The token's decimal precision determines how that integer becomes a readable balance.
Transfer to the recipient
A successful claim with a positive amount owed transfers the configured reward token to the recipient. The claim can first accrue the account through the execution block. Claim accounting then records the payment, preventing the same entitlement from paying twice.
An owed balance alone does not establish that payment succeeded. The rewards contract needs sufficient tokens, and the token transfer must succeed. A successful call with nothing owed can make no transfer. The payment record therefore matters alongside transaction status, especially when an interface continues displaying an older estimate.
Interest costs continue alongside reward accrual
Borrow interest increases the debt balance independently of rewards, while supply interest increases a positive base balance under its own rate model. Both rates depend on utilization, the relationship between total borrowing and total supply. Their separate curves include configured kink points where the slope changes. Interest uses elapsed seconds derived from block timestamps. A reward estimate cannot establish borrowing profitability because interest, reward-token value, and transaction costs can change. Claiming rewards does not itself reduce the base-asset debt.
What can trigger liquidation?
An account becomes eligible for liquidation when its debt exceeds the borrowing support calculated with the market's liquidation collateral factors.
Collateral price declines and growing interest can reduce the account's margin. Liquidation collateral factors differ from the borrow collateral factors that limit new borrowing. Consequently, an account can lose permission to borrow more before becoming liquidatable. The configured price feeds determine the values that these checks use; a reward balance does not add borrowing support.
During absorption, the protocol takes the account's collateral and clears its debt using protocol reserves. The calculation applies the collateral's liquidation penalty, and any resulting positive base balance belongs to the account. Discounted sales of absorbed collateral can subsequently replenish reserves when the sale conditions permit. Reward income does not remove the possibility of losing collateral through this process.
Permissions and governance can change access
Manager permission allows another address to withdraw or transfer assets on an account's behalf, so granting it carries consequences beyond displaying balances. Token approval and account-manager permission authorize different operations. Governance can upgrade market implementations and change interest, reward, collateral, and risk parameters. The governor or pause guardian can also pause specified operations, including supply and withdrawal. Contract execution, price-feed behavior, and administrative changes therefore affect access even when an interface displays a position normally.
Repayment, withdrawals, and remaining rewards
Repayment supplies the base asset against debt, while withdrawal removes base tokens or collateral subject to market checks. Withdrawing more base tokens than an account's positive supply balance creates borrowing debt. Accrued interest belongs in the outstanding repayment amount. Collateral withdrawal must leave sufficient support for remaining borrowing. Base withdrawals also require available tokens and an unpaused withdrawal operation.
Closing a position ends its future participation on that side, but previously accrued tracking remains part of the account's reward history. Closing and claiming therefore need not represent the same transaction. An unpaid entitlement remains distinct from a withdrawn deposit, and payment still depends on the rewards contract. A zero borrow balance confirms debt clearance; it does not establish that collateral or rewards have reached the wallet.
Base-asset lending versus collateral-backed borrowing
Supplying the base asset earns lending interest when the supply rate is positive, without creating borrowing debt in that market. Borrowing provides the base asset against committed collateral. Comparing these choices on reward eligibility alone misses their different costs. The borrower assumes interest and liquidation exposure, while the supplier remains exposed to protocol losses and withdrawal liquidity.
Keeping assets in a wallet avoids committing them to these lending contracts, but does not earn their supply interest or participation rewards. Supplying collateral without borrowing preserves borrowing capacity inside the market, yet earns no collateral interest from Comet. The appropriate comparison begins with the asset access that the reader needs; configured rewards are an additional component of that choice.
Popular questions about Compound v3
Can another address claim my Compound v3 rewards?
Another address can trigger a standard claim that sends rewards to your account. Redirecting the payment through claimTo requires the account owner or an authorized manager. Permission to trigger collection therefore does not, by itself, give the caller permission to receive your rewards.
Where do rewards accrue when I supply for another account?
Reward tracking follows the account that holds the qualifying base-asset position. Supplying through supplyTo credits the destination account, so the funding wallet does not receive that position's future accrual merely because it provided the tokens. Existing debt at the destination also affects whether the deposit creates a supply balance.
Does removing a manager close my loan?
Removing a manager changes its permission to act for the account; it does not repay borrowing. Existing debt, collateral, and reward records remain associated with the account. The owner must handle any repayment or withdrawal separately, and interest continues under the market's borrowing rules.
Can a partial repayment leave debt below the borrowing minimum?
A partial repayment can leave debt below baseBorrowMin. The minimum constrains a withdrawal that creates or increases borrowing, rather than forcing a repayment to clear the entire loan. Any remaining debt continues accruing interest, and a later borrowing action must satisfy the applicable minimum.
Are reward balances combined across Compound v3 markets?
Reward accounting identifies both the Comet market and the account, so participation in separate markets creates separate records. Using the same wallet address does not merge those records. A combined interface total can aggregate displays, while the underlying claims still depend on each market's reward configuration.
Do liquidation points represent claimable reward tokens?
Liquidation points record absorption activity and associated gas expenditure; they do not themselves establish a claimable token payment. Base-asset participation rewards use separate tracking and claim accounting. Compensation for liquidation activity would require an applicable governance action rather than an assumption that points convert automatically.
Does claiming automatically reinvest my rewards?
A standard reward claim transfers tokens to the recipient without supplying them back into Comet. Reinvestment requires another supported action. The reward token must qualify for the intended market role, and supplying it as collateral would not produce the same interest treatment as supplying that market's base asset.