By Jason Del Rey

There are few things that people agree on about bitcoin, the virtual currency that has increasingly come under the media spotlight this year. But here's one: If the controversial payment method is going to receive mainstream adoption, it's going to have to get easier to both buy and sell.

As a result, when you look around at U.S. startups trying to enter the space, a large chunk are bitcoin infrastructure businesses, either trying to build an exchange to rival Mt. Gox, a digital wallet, or tools to trade or transfer the currency. So it's only fitting that at an investor pitch event last week in New York City for bitcoin startups, all nine of the pitches centered on at least one of these elements.

For the winning startup, a yet-to-launch bitcoin exchange called CoinX, the differentiator was not a superior product (we didn't even see it in action); it was simply a thought-out plan on how to comply with state policies that regulate money transmitter businesses.

Read the rest of the story at WSJ's All Things D blog.