# Standard (External) Rewards

In Bancor version 3, rewards can be distributed to a liquidity pool in any token using the Standard Rewards contract. For example, a project could distribute its earnings to token holders by creating a rewards program that distributes USDC. 

This mechanism also enables rewards to be distributed in 2 different tokens at the same time, referred to as [Dual Liquidity Mining](/about-bancor-network/resources-for-daos/liquidity-mining/dual-liquidity-mining.md). 

Standard Rewards will be used to distribute BNT rewards in the Bancor V3 bootstrapping campaign. 

{% hint style="info" %}
Rewards earned from a Standard Rewards program do not automatically compound, as they are a different token than the one provided - they must be claimed. 
{% endhint %}

### Standard Rewards vs Auto Compounding Rewards

Standard Rewards differ from Auto Compounding Rewards in the following ways:

|                        | Standard Rewards                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               | Auto Compounding Rewards                                                                      |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Reward token           | Any token (deposited or non-deposited)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | <p>Deposited token only<br>(i.e. for a DAI deposit, rewards can only be in the DAI token)</p> |
| Requires manual opt-in | <p>Yes - users must manually:<br>1. Join the rewards program using a <code>join</code> transaction (stake bnTokens)<br>2. Claim rewards using <code>claim</code> or<code>stake</code> transaction<br>3. Exit the program using <code>leave</code> to return their bnTokens</p> | No - users receive the rewards automatically by holding bnTokens                              |


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