IMO the key factor that will push Shift to $1b+ market cap is that they should be one of the first, if not the first, platforms to implement Sidechains. This is huge because it solves for dApp platforms the scaling problem, like DAG solves the scaling problem for currency/store of value tokens. If Shift delivers on sidechains before Lisk, as they plan in their roadmap, then Shift could become the Raiblocks of dApp platforms.

The other key factor is that Shift is an entire dApp platform with unlimited use cases (more dApps can be easily developed with Javascript) but it already comes with a pre-bundled decentralized hosting dApp to help drive adoption of the ecosystem. The website homepage (shiftnrg.org which already as others pointed out is hosted through their web hosting dApp Phantom) explains this "killer dApp" concept. It is absolutely mind-boggling that Shift isn't already $500m+ because the current upside is so huge (i.e. that of a file and web hosting dApp plus that of a next-gen dApp platform in one) and it will easily go past $1b IMO this year, could even happen in Q1. My prediction is $2b by the end of 2018. It should tell you a lot that the original System Architect of Lisk joined Shift in late December. I think this project is going to be huge.