XLM has a huge red flag until 100% of coins are released, so many still held by dev team. I thought all were going to be airdropped originally, now they're not ... smells bad IMO
They have been supremely open and above board about how coins will be released.
There are several bottom lines which you seem not to be aware of.
Compared to Ripple, the current circulating supply is roughly half. At no time will they suddenly double that supply or some such nonsense.
The absolute total supply as compared to Ripple is only a few percent higher.
The inflation/adding of the rest of the supply into circulation is taking place over 20 years. Think about that for a second, 20 years. In 5 years, the supply will still be smaller than Ripple. This gives time for things to play out WITHOUT the people running the coin manipulating the coin at a whim.
As for "air drops/free coins", it really can't be helped if people throwing money around without doing proper research don't understand the situation...
Anyone who buys XLM at this point, and is expecting an airdrop has either read extremely outdated information, and hasn't even done a proper in depth google search to be informed, or they have been tricked by scammers (which infest the entire world of Cryptocurrency).
Who throws out money like that? Not responsible people.
XLM is primarily a long term idea, which can end up being wide spread throughout the world over time in useful ways. Short term gains can be had by traders who can see trends for what they are. But goofballs who get upset that their investment at the height of an incredible run backfired, or that the coin they bought at 50 cents isn't going to make them rich by next week, or that they themselves misunderstood the nature and time period of the free giveaways really aren't a match for XLM unless they alter their thinking.
As many early adopters cash some out for gains, people looking to get rich overnight panic, and the general overall volatility of the crypto-market works itself out, there will be times like this. The real (long term) situation doesn't look bad at all. In fact, it looks pretty great!
The only "red flag" waving is the one screaming at people to do some real research, and stop being noobs.
