  Since the invention of Bitcoin one decade ago, numerous cryptocurrencies have
sprung into existence. Among these, proof-of-work is the most common mechanism
for achieving consensus, whilst a number of coins have adopted
"ASIC-resistance" as a desirable property, claiming to be more "egalitarian,"S
where egalitarianism refers to the power of each coin to participate in the
creation of new coins. While proof-of-work consensus dominates the space,
several new cryptocurrencies employ alternative consensus, such as
proof-of-stake in which block minting opportunities are based on monetary
ownership. A core criticism of proof-of-stake revolves around it being less
egalitarian by making the rich richer, as opposed to proof-of-work in which
everyone can contribute equally according to their computational power. In this
paper, we give the first quantitative definition of a cryptocurrency's
\emph{egalitarianism}. Based on our definition, we measure the egalitarianism
of popular cryptocurrencies that (may or may not) employ ASIC-resistance, among
them Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Monero. Our simulations show, as
expected, that ASIC-resistance increases a cryptocurrency's egalitarianism. We
also measure the egalitarianism of a stake-based protocol, Ouroboros, and a
hybrid proof-of-stake/proof-of-work cryptocurrency, Decred. We show that
stake-based cryptocurrencies, under correctly selected parameters, can be
perfectly egalitarian, perhaps contradicting folklore belief.
