I am watching ฿1 soar to $935 today and my thoughts extended to: how would I get money out of bitcoins today?

The truth is the quantity of virtual currency in the world is increasing, and will continue to do so. The wild gyrations in the price of bitcoins is just one sign of appreciation in value in virtual currencies. There is little doubt that the average consumer will — sooner rather than later — end up with an increasing array of virtual currency in the years ahead.

Obviously, there is a need for a virtual currency exchange, and there are a few ventures working on this problem. But these exchanges are faced with a sticky problem: the greater the number of virtual currencies, the more difficult it is to create a foreign exchange market for them all.

The sprouting of bitcoin exchanges in recent months is part of the reason why the value of a bitcoin has appreciated so dramatically in recent days. There’s a market. But what about for arcane virtual currencies like Circles, Zeevexes, Ripples, Voopes, and whoknowswhat currencies that have yet to be launched?

An exchange will need scale. It is not just about making an algorithmically driven market. This exchange would need to have a concentration of users so that even smaller currencies have some degree of liquidity — or that the “larger” virtual currencies, like bitcoin, effectively “fund” the losses on “smaller” virtual currencies. The overall forex risks, however, are monumental.

There are some ventures taking a crack at this. Gyft is one such venture, as is Points.com, not to mention the multitude of bitcoin exchanges that can conceivably shift to other forms of virtual currency. Meanwhile, other ventures are looking to address the virtual currency market specifically. Virtual Currency Exchange Bank allows for the transfer of virtual currencies, but mainly from one game to another. Sometrics is a virtual currency SAAS play that is owned by American Express.

Finally, but notably, there is compliance. The laws related to money laundering do – or at the least will, at some point – apply to every virtual currency. Bitcoin exchanges, for example, have put in place robust compliance procedures to comply with anti-money laundering rules. So compliant are the exchanges that no other than the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network – the US government’s main financial enforcement body – publicly came out in favor of bitcoins this month. That’s notable, yet the compliance challenges remain substantial for a venture looking to exchange a wide array of virtual currencies. To put it bluntly, the rule book needs to be written for a virtual currency exchange of wide application and global reach.

Yes, there is a need for comprehensive virtual currency conversion, and that need will grow only more acute in the coming years, but how exactly to solve this problem on a global basis remains to be seen.