If you had bought $100 worth of Bitcoin 7 years ago, you would have now accumulated $145.8 million after the new record high.

You may have recently noticed the reports on the value of Bitcoin and the countless stories about investors posing as new millionaires. With the stellar returns of so many cryptocurrencies—7.8 million percent for Bitcoin, 82,000% for Ethereum, 56,000% for IOTA, 44,000% for Stratis, 21,000% for Spectrecoin—it's no surprise that Silicon Valley's smartest investors are betting on these trends in 2017. How far will cryptocurrencies go? Experts make their predictions. Bitcoin has turned so many people into millionaires that traders have dubbed the currency "lambo," referring to the amount of time it takes to cash in enough to buy a Lamborghini, says Elliott Prechter, president of Qualitative Analytics, a financial forecasting technology company. Over the course of seven years, Bitcoin's value has multiplied 1,759,998 times. If an investor had decided to spend five dollars on approximately 2,000 Bitcoin in 2010, that stake would be worth $8.8 million today. With $1,200 spent on 480,000 Bitcoin, the investor would have made at least $2.2 billion. Bitcoin continues to grow in 2017, gaining legitimacy in countries like Japan as more people begin to embrace the idea of a decentralized currency. As the number of companies and governments accepting cryptocurrencies grows, they continue to rise in value. Bitcoin , while remaining the largest cryptocurrency, isn't the only key driver of growth. According to Coinmarketcap, the combined value of all major cryptocurrencies is now approximately $150 billion. Bitcoin represents less than half of this, with a market cap of $69 billion, while Ethereum and Ripple have grown to $28 billion and $8.3 billion, respectively. Because there is no central bank or government controlling it, Bitcoin is also considered a safe haven, benefiting from a problematic geopolitical climate, such as renewed tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea. Wences Casares, a PayPal board member and CEO of the Xapo Bitcoin wallet, recently predicted that Bitcoin will hit $1 million within 10 years at the 2017 Consensus conference in New York. Casares has been dubbed Bitcoin's "patient zero" by Silicon Valley's elite. He has brought Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, and countless other Bitcoin luminaries to gatherings of the rich and famous like Sun Valley. Casares's formula for Bitcoin riches is simple: "Take at least 1% or less of what you have and invest it in Bitcoin. You'll either lose 1% of your net worth, which most people can handle, or you can make millions." Casares is betting on a 20% chance that Bitcoin will completely collapse to zero dollars. "If it collapses, it won't matter," he says. "If it succeeds, in five to seven years, a single Bitcoin will be worth more than a million dollars." He estimates the probability of success at more than 50%. Casares has an interesting response for those who believe they've already "missed" the Bitcoin train and are afraid to join too late. He said he's seen people who bought Bitcoin at cheap prices—as low as $13—lose their money because they tried to trade for profits, while those who bought at high prices even just a month ago have done "incredibly well" simply by buying and holding. Blockchain CEO Peter Smith joined Snapchat investor Jeremy Liew in predicting that the price of Bitcoin would reach $500,000 by 2030. At the time, Bitcoin was around $1,200. We suspect they raised their predictions after Bitcoin's rapid rise to over $10,000. "We believe Bitcoin's awareness, high liquidity, ease of transport, and continued outperformance of the market driven by geopolitical risks will make it a strong investment contender at the consumer and investor levels ," the pair told Business Insider. Smith and Liew calculated that the average Bitcoin user will end up being worth $25,000 on the cryptocurrency by 2030. They also assume the number of Bitcoin users will grow from 6.5 million to 400 million. Multiplying these two numbers (25,000 times 400 million) gives Bitcoin a market cap of $10 trillion. Dividing this by Bitcoin's fixed supply of 20 million in 2030 yields a Bitcoin price prediction of $500,000. Until recently, commercial cryptocurrencies required highly complicated software setups, and transactions had to go through less reliable exchanges. Fortunately, there's a new, safe way for casual investors to enter the cryptocurrency market with a fully regulated platform.

So, what should you do if you want to invest a small amount of money in Bitcoin or Ethereum?

Congratulations! You're now part of the Bitcoin community. If the price of Bitcoin rises, you can withdraw your money from Etoro in cash… whenever you want. Just think: the most you can lose in the deal above is $500, but if you had made the same deal six years ago, the same amount you just invested would now be worth over $4,000,000. So, how much will you have at this point next year?