While I wasn't around in the very early days of Steem, the current distribution and liquidity % of LEO does remind me of it.

The circumstances are obviously much different: Steem had a year-long power down, which means only a very small amount of Steem was able to be sold in the beginning, while LEO was initially airdropped and has a much lower power-down period.

But I do see the danger as well in LEO right now being in the hands of too few, who either unknowingly or knowingly "manipulate" the liquidity to pump the price (as we've seen before). However, sooner or later, some stake has to be sold and it's yet to be seen whether buy-pressure will be enough and whether the distribution will be decentralized & healthy enough.

I wish them all the best, though I'd prefer less hype and more acknowledgement to their Hive roots.