---
description: Get transparency into how reward payouts are calculated
---

# Payouts

Auditor payouts consist of shares of the prize pool calculated based on the [severity](how-to-evaluate-a-finding-severity.md) and [number of findings](how-to-write-and-submit-a-finding.md) an auditor submits during a smart contract auditing competition.

Here's how rewards are calculated:

<details>

<summary>High / Medium Findings</summary>

#### Current Payout Calculation:

For competitive audits, the payouts are currently determined as:

* **Medium-Risk Shares**: `1 * (0.9^(findingCount - 1)) / findingCount`
* **High-Risk Shares**: `5 * (0.9^(findingCount - 1)) / findingCount`

This calculation is subject to future adjustments to align with auditors' needs.

#### Example:

Given a **H/M Prize Pot** of **$30,000** and a **Final report** with **3 Highs** and **2 Mediums**:

* **Auditor A** submitted: High A, B, Medium A
* **Auditor B** submitted: High A, C, Medium A, B
* **Auditor C** submitted: High A, Medium A, B, C

The shares per finding would be:

* **Medium A** (3 findings): `1 * (0.9^(3 - 1)) / 3 = 0.27`
* **Medium B** (2 findings): `1 * (0.9^(2 - 1)) / 2 = 0.45`
* **Medium C** (1 finding): `1 * (0.9^(1 - 1)) / 1 = 1`
* **High A** (3 findings): `5 * (0.9^(3 - 1)) / 3 = 1.35`
* **High B** (1 finding): `5 * (0.9^(1 - 1)) / 1 = 5`
* **High C** (1 finding): `5 * (0.9^(1 - 1)) / 1 = 5`

Total shares:

* **Auditor A**: `1.35 + 5 + 0.27 = 6.62` shares
* **Auditor B**: `1.35 + 5 + 0.27 + 0.45 = 7.07` shares
* **Auditor C**: `1.35 + 0.27 + 0.45 + 1 = 3.07` shares

The prize distribution would be:

* **Auditor A**: `6.62 / 16.76 = 39.5%` of the prize pot = $11,850
* **Auditor B**: `7.07 / 16.76 = 42.2%` of the prize pot = $12,660
* **Auditor C**: `3.07 / 16.76 = 18.3%` of the prize pot = $5,490

</details>

<details>

<summary>Low Findings</summary>

For this tier, the prize pool is considerably smaller. The current calculation for low-risk shares is:

* **Low-Risk Shares**: `1 * (0.9^(findingCount - 1)) / findingCount`

Given the smaller prize pool and the potential volume of findings in this tier, auditors should note that judges may disqualify low-effort submissions at their discretion.

### QA / Gas / Informational

As of August 18th, 2023, CodeHawks has stopped accepting findings related to gas optimizations, quality assurance issues, and informational insights.

</details>

{% hint style="warning" %}
Rewards are paid out in **USDC** through the **ZKsync chain**. Crediting the reward **won't be possible** without a ZKsync wallet connected to the user profile.

Payouts may be within 0.0001 USDC margin of error.
{% endhint %}

***

### Duplicate issues

An issue is considered a duplicate if they have the same **root cause**. For example, the following two issues are duplicates:

* **No zero address check results in loss of funds: high**
* **Users can lose precision when it doesn't check for address(0): low.**

These have the same **root cause** even though they are submitted with different severity levels and are considered duplicates.

The following are not considered duplicates:

* **Users can lose precision when it doesn't check for address(0): low.**
* **Dividing before multiplying loses precision: low.**

Since they have different root causes (checking the zero address vs dividing before multiplying), they are not considered duplicates.