The founder of one of the world’s top cryptocurrency exchanges says we’re still in the early days of Bitcoin and the full promise of the digital currency is yet to be realised.

Brian Armstrong, the CEO Coinbase, made the comments in a series of tweets to mark the 10th anniversary of Bitcoin.

“I believe we’re still at the beginning,” he said.

“The white paper signalled the start of a movement and the full promise of Bitcoin is still yet to be realised.”

13/ I believe we’re still at the beginning. The white paper signaled the start of a movement and the full promise of Bitcoin is still yet to be realized. — Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 3, 2019

Mr Armstrong began the series of tweets by explaining how he became interested in Bitcoin and ultimately built a multi billion dollar company.

“I read the Satoshi Nakamoto white paper for the first time in 2010,” he said.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about it for the next 6 months and re-read it a number of times.

“I got excited by the prospect of another global decentralised protocol (like the internet) that could create a more open financial system for the world. I had a hope that it could create more economic freedom.”

10/ Bitcoin is one of the most important inventions of all time and has launched a global movement. It's awesome to see an entire ecosystem spring up around it, but Bitcoin is my first love. — Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 3, 2019

Mr Armstrong says many people he knew thought Bitcoin was “crazy” at the time, but he persisted in learning about the technology.

“I wanted to do something to help make this technology easier to use and see if it could get wider adoption,” he said.

The name of his project was initially BitBank, but lawyers advised him not to use the word ‘bank’ in the name.

“I happened to see the word “Coinbase’ in the Bitcoin Wiki (it is a part of the Bitcoin protocol) and liked it.

“I purchased the domain a few days later for ~$1,800. Millions of customers later here we are.

“Bitcoin is one of the most important inventions of all time and has launched a global movement. It’s awesome to see an entire ecosystem spring up around it, but Bitcoin is my first love.

“Bitcoin remains the most popular asset on Coinbase among new customers and longtime hodlers alike. It’s great to see steady progress continue, including lightning network adoption and more.