LUX is one of the most exciting, feature packed cryptocurrencies I have had the chance to invest in

LUXcore is a one-of-a-kind hybrid POW/POS cryptocurrency that features ASIC resistant mining, smart contracts, segwit, parallel masternodes, multiple privacy layers, and LUXgate, a technological breakthrough that will allow cross-chain transactions.
When you put all of that on paper it seems like a lot for the developers to accomplish, but they keep their roadmap up to date with real time progress indicators which is amazing.
ASIC resistant mining (PHI1612)
In order to prevent unbalanced control over the LUX economy, LUX features POW/POS using a new proprietary algorithm known as PHI1612 which is built from: Skein, JH, Cubehash, Fugue, Streebog, and Echo. This algorithm prevents owners of large ASIC mining farms from barraging the network wish hashrate and allows smaller GPU setups to hash faster than traditional algos using 10% less power. Block rewards for LUX are 10 coins every 60 seconds. Block size is 4 MB which allows for scalability in the future. The power consumption is a large concern to much of the world, and LUX includes a Proof of Stake reward that is fixed at 1 LUX, divided %60/40 to holder/MasterNode respectively. The higher your coin count, the more frequently you will earn a stake. The maturity time for staking is set at 36 hours, so once a coin stakes, you have to wait 36 hours before the staking begins again. This balances the ecosystem because the max stake rate is .6 LUX every 36 hours if staking a single input.

LUX will enable Enterprise customers to build DApps (decentralized applications) that will trigger transactions based on pre-defined conditions, such as fulfillment of an order, completion of a task, etc. Smart contracts allow credible transactions to be permanently etched into the blockchain without the unnecessary mediation of a third party.

LUX features segwit, or segregated witness, which you may be familiar with within other blockchains such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Digibyte. Segregated witness strips the signature from the input and structures it to the end of a transaction. This is both a security feature and a scalability buffer as well. Segwit prevents the modification of a transaction ID by a receiver in order to skew the amounts within the transaction. By attaching the signature to only the end of the block, segwit effectively leaves much of the block unused for scaling transactions to maintain speed of the network in the future.

Master nodes are multi functional and assist the network with security. The more master nodes a network has, the more stable it is and resistant to attacks on the network. Master nodes verify transactions and enable LUXSend. A master node has a minimum of 16,120 LUX in their wallet and as a reward for supporting the network is awarded 40% of POS blocks randomly.

LUX is focused on security and thus offers 4 levels of security for transactions
Threat Level 1 - Regular blockchain transaction between trusted or known individuals. Both wallet addresses are visible on the blockchain
Threat Level 2 - Regular blockchain transaction where the sending address is visible, but the receiving wallet is hidden via Stealth addressing.
Threat Level 3 - Regular blockchain transaction sending address is hidden via LuxSend and receiving wallet is visible on the blockchain
Threat Level 4 - Regular blockchain transaction where the sending address is hidden via LuxSend and the receiving wallet is hidden via Stealth addressing.

Parallel Master Nodes are Master Nodes who operate on the I2pd and SAM protocol and increase the security capabilities of the LUX network. Parallel master nodes are targeted at vetted business and government institutions who can be verified to provide secure transactions. Any transaction sent through the PMN will be encrypted and the IP addresses changed automatically, which is an additional layer of privacy.

LUXGate is one of the more exciting features in the LUX suite of capabilities and will revolutionize cryptocurrency. With the assistance of PMN's, LUXGate will enable communication between validated blockchains with the ability to perform advanced functions and tasks. This means that the Ethereum blockchain can communicate with Bitcoin's blockchain, or LUX as well. Cross chain transactions are currently happening via atomic swaps. Enabling transactions across chains will allow exchange of coins without the assistance (and fees) of third party entities. This will allow users to trade freely without ever letting their coins out of their possession and into an exchange. This is nothing short of a technological miracle and is one of the many reasons I am personally invested in LUX.
I am not a financial advisor and I am invested in LUX personally and I don't like to make predictions. That being said, LUX is going to have one hell of a year and more. I have been fairly inactive on steemit recently due to my busy life and school, but this coin gave me a reason to blog again. I don't want the steemit community to miss out on this fantastic coin. Keep up to date with all of the news by checking out http://luxcore.io/products and keep tabs on the current announcements in all of their various social media outlets.

LUX is releasing a new wallet on January 25th which will enable trading within the wallet itself. This is super exciting and will make the delay from the intended release of the 15th worthwhile.

I am currently mining and staking LUX, check out POW and POS in action!