The bitcoin price has soared throughout the first two quarters of 2017, sparking renewed media interest in cryptocurrency. Much of that press coverage has been negative, and many mainstream news anchors and analysts continue to dismiss Bitcoin out of hand rather than give it an honest appraisal.

Others, however, are opening their eyes to the possibility that Bitcoin is an enduring financial and technological force. CNBC personality Jim Cramer, for instance, recently suggested ransomware attackscould propel the bitcoin price to $1 million.

Not to be outdone, a prominent Fox Business show asked whether the bitcoin price could reach $1 billion.

The June 30 “Making Money With Charles Payne” segment featured Former New York Bitcoin Center Policy Director and Bitcoin Girl Naomi Brockwell alongside Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce.

Charles Payne began the segment by acknowledging that he and many other news personalities had dismissed Bitcoin as “technology’s answer to Beanie Babies,” but it has since begun to gain mainstream acceptance and attention from the business community.

Naomi Brockwell, however, attributed the recent bitcoin price rise to the political ramifications of its decentralized nature, stating that people living under dictatorial regimes can use it to purchase food and other products unavailable in their home nation. As she claimed:

The main people promoting this technology are those who understand that governments can be dangerous.

Tammy Bruce voiced her hesitations about placing trust in a digital currency that relied on the Internet rather than a physical asset like gold or cash but also stated she appreciates that bitcoin “goes beyond the establishment.”

Toward the end of the segment, the discussion shifted to specific price predictions.  Although no one on the panel directly suggested the bitcoin price could reach $1 billion, the Business Alert ticker asked “Bitcoin to reach $1bn?” Payne asked Brockwell whether she agreed that it could reach $1 million, to which she replied it can go “to the moon.”

What Would a $1 Billion Bitcoin Price Look Like?

For bitcoin to reach $1 billion, it would need to experience a 38,491,100% increase from its current $2,598 mark. This would give bitcoin a very respectable $16 quintillion market cap given the current supply. Assuming every altcoin retained its current trade value with bitcoin, even 100th-ranked TokenCard would achieve a market cap of nearly $9 trillion. This would be unlikely in a scenario in which bitcoin achieved this level of financial dominance, but let’s face it, a $1 billion bitcoin price is unlikely, too.

At current levels (and ignoring all potential future scaling solutions) the average bitcoin transaction would cost nearly $700,000 to process.

Remember the fabled 10,000 bitcoin pizza purchased in 2010? I hope it was delicious, because those bitcoins would be worth $10 trillion.

And lest we forget, assuming Satoshi was alive and had access to his or her rumored ~1 million bitcoins, he or she would attain a net worth of $1 quadrillion, edging ever-so-slightly past Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

The past week has not been great for the crypto markets, as most coins have struggled just to tread water.  However, two top-10 cryptocurrencies–Litecoin and Dash–have weathered the storm and produced double-digit percentage gains in the past week.

Litecoin Price’s 1,200% Explosion

As recently as March 13, the litecoin price was only $3.85. Since that time litecoin has grown more than 1,200%. In the past week alone, the litecoin price has increased a remarkable 23%, reaching as high as $55 before settling down to its present value of about $51. Litecoin has also experienced significant volume in recent weeks. On July 5, Litecoin’s 24-hour trading volume surpassed the $1 billion mark for the first time, briefly giving it a higher volume than both bitcoin and ethereum.

Chart from CoinMarketCap

Part of the reason for litecoin’s price movement is the overall surge in the crypto markets.  The bitcoin price, for instance, has more than doubled in that time frame. However, the litecoin price has outpaced many of its altcoin peers because of a flurry of positive developments. In April, Litecoin miners agreed to activate SegWit, and on May 10th the scaling solution was successfully implemented. In June, BitGo announced support for Litecoin, and before long European exchange BitStamp integrated BitGo’s Litecoin multi-signature security service to support Litecoin trading pairs. That same month, Developer Charlie Lee resigned from Coinbase to work full-time on Litecoin.

Dash Price Reaches All-Time High

Dash has also had an impressive week. Since last Thursday, the Dash price has increased 15%, enabling the anonymity-centric altcoin to cross the $200 threshold. On July 6, the Dash price rose to an all-time high of $225. It has reversed course since then, declining to its present $206 value. Nevertheless, this has still been a banner week for Dash.

Chart from CoinMarketCap

Positive news from both developers and businesses fueled the Dash price increase. Earlier this week, BitInstant founder Charlie Shrem revealed he is working on a project to create prepaid debit cards that users can fund with Dash. The service will convert the Dash into fiat currency, so cardholders can use the debit card even at businesses that do not accept cryptocurrency payments.

Investors have also been bullish about the new Dash roadmap for mass adoption, which includes the deployment of Dash 12.1, scaling solutions, and mining decentralization.

Market Cap Share

Chart from CoinMarketCap

Collectively, litecoin and Dash have increased their market cap share by more than 23% during the past week. Litecoin now controls 2.59% of all cryptocurrency capital with a market cap of $2.6 billion, while Dash’s $1.5 billion valuation gives it a 1.52% share.

Featured image from Shutterstock.