Swiss-Based Bitcoin Wallet Xapo CEO Wences Casares has made one of the most bullish Bitcoin price predictions yet at the Consensus 2017 conference in New York.

In comments at the event, Casares forecast one Bitcoin being worth a massive $1 mln in ten years’ time, taking attendees by surprise.

Whoa. PayPal guy & @xapo @wences : only buy the #bitcoin you can afford... and predicts it will hit $1 million in 5-10 yrs #consensus2017 — SusanPoole (@BitCoinSusan) May 23, 2017

Bitcoin price predictions have been increasingly daring in recent months as Bitcoin breaks through one barrier after another - $1,200, $1,600, $1,800 and most recently $2,000.

In April, Blockchain CEO Peter Smith joined Snapchat investor Jeremy Liew in saying $500,000 would be the cost per coin by 2030. At the time, Bitcoin cost around $1,170 - around half its current price.

"We believe Bitcoin awareness, high liquidity, ease of transport and continued market outperformance as geopolitical risks mount will make Bitcoin a strong contender for investment at a consumer and investor level," the pair told Business Insider.

In the intervening month, market outperformance has been the topic on the lips of many.

•Bitcoin 75,300% gain since 2011



•Ethereum 7,328% gain since January 27th, 2016



•American Financial Indexes, Trumped — Toni Lane (tlc) (@tonilanec) May 23, 2017

The media is also awash with Bitcoin admiration, CNBC calling it the “new gold” and running dedicated features on the virtual currency highlighting investment gains.