Interop has moved from "how do I move an asset" to "where should it launch." Sunrise owns the second question: the primary market, landing new tokens, and increasingly real-world assets, native and liquid on Solana via NTT. Below: the market read, the competitive map, each JD duty mapped to a plan, and the moves I'd start with.
Every Sunrise deal is the same three-sided trade: issuer, liquidity, venue. The BD job is to make it repeatable rather than bespoke. I'd win the standard decision at a token's TGE, package day-one liquidity, co-sell with Solana venues rather than compete with them, and lean into where Sunrise is heading: real-world assets like tokenized stocks, commodities, and funds that memecoin launchpads can't serve. This page maps each of the six JD duties to a plan, then lists the moves I'd start with.
Sunrise (sunrise.xyz) is Wormhole Labs' primary-market listing gateway for Solana. It combines three things that used to be separate and slow: native issuance, pre-seeded liquidity, and venue and explorer integration, on top of Wormhole's Native Token Transfers (NTT). An asset from any chain becomes tradable on Solana at the moment it lists. The pilot listing (a new L1 mainnet TGE) proved the crypto case; the live app now shows the wider bet, a Stocks tab with real-world assets already trading (see ★). So the BD surface is broader than crypto listings: it's the on-ramp for anything that wants to be native and liquid on Solana.
Reaching Solana used to mean bolting a launchpad onto a bridge: wrapped-asset risk, slippage, delay, thin day-one books. Sunrise combines that into one flow.
Most cross-chain infrastructure is secondary market: moving or swapping assets that already exist (intent and solver liquidity networks, 0-TVL, fast native swaps). Sunrise is primary market: issuing and listing new assets on day one. Different job, different buyer. Where they overlap, being the Solana on-ramp for new tokens, native issuance with seeded liquidity holds up better than an IOU a solver keeps rebalancing.
The decision that precedes the listing is the standard an issuer picks when a token goes multichain. NTT is the rail under Sunrise. The field:
| Standard | Strength | Gap vs NTT / Sunrise |
|---|---|---|
| LayerZero OFT most adopted | Predates NTT, wider EVM adoption (CAKE, USDT0, ezETH, Pendle PT, Ethena USDe), 90+ chains, LZ-v2 composability, largest cumulative volume | EVM-centric; no Solana-listing product bundling liquidity and venue. OFT gets a token to Solana, not liquid on day one there. |
| Chainlink CCT | Enterprise and institutional trust, DON security (CCIP) | Not a Solana-listing GTM motion; heavier integration |
| Axelar ITS | Interchain Token Service, Cosmos reach | Smaller Solana story; less liquidity orchestration |
| NTT Sunrise runs on this | Non-EVM leader (Solana, Aptos, Sui, Cosmos); burn-and-mint and hub-and-spoke; Global Accountant; >$5B bridged; Lido wstETH, Wormhole W, native ETH/wstETH | Fewer total chains than OFT; newer, still building EVM mindshare |
Many issuers go dual-standard: OFT on EVM, NTT for Solana. That's the opening for Sunrise. An issuer can keep OFT on EVM; the Solana leg fits NTT plus Sunrise, which ships with day-one liquidity and Jupiter and Orb distribution. Sunrise can own the Solana leg even where OFT owns EVM.
Where Sunrise lands the asset. Sunrise isn't competing with these for memecoins; it's the on-ramp for external assets and RWAs, and can partner with most of them.
| Venue | Role | To Sunrise |
|---|---|---|
| pump.fun / PumpSwap | Dominant memecoin launchpad; its PumpSwap AMM now leads much of Solana DEX volume | not our lane different asset class |
| Raydium (LaunchLab) | Major AMM, deep liquidity, launch pools | partner liquidity destination |
| Meteora (DLMM) | High capital turnover (DLMM), dynamic liquidity | partner day-one seeding venue |
| Jupiter (+ Studio) | ~80% of Solana aggregator swap volume; a Sunrise integration | partner distribution and routing |
| CEX-built Solana DEXs | CeDeFi hybrid venues with fair launchpads | partner CEX reach and MM (see §08) |
Against the standards field, Sunrise wins the Solana leg by bundling liquidity and venue with native issuance. Against launchpads it doesn't compete; it's the external-asset and RWA on-ramp that feeds them.
The clearest signal is in the live product. sunrise.xyz runs a "Stocks" tab and lists real-world assets alongside crypto: tokenized equities, commodities, even collectibles. That widens the BD job. RWA distribution to Solana is a large and fast-growing lane, and Sunrise already has a foothold: it co-launched tokenized SpaceX (SPCX) with Backpack on listing day.
| Live on Sunrise (observed) | Asset class | What it signals for BD |
|---|---|---|
| PAX Gold (PAXG) | Commodity, gold | Tokenized-commodity issuers (Paxos and peers) already fit; a category to expand. |
| SanDisk (SNDK), Micron (MU) | Tokenized US equities | Equity-tokenization pipes (Backpack-style) can use Sunrise as the Solana issuance and liquidity layer. |
| SpaceX (SPCX) | Pre-IPO / private equity | Private-market tokenization is the high-value frontier: scarce supply, real demand. |
| Roundhill Memory (DRAM) | Thematic fund | Fund and index issuers are a repeatable RWA category. |
| Scarlet & Violet 151 (SV151) | Collectible RWA | Even collectibles list; the gateway is asset-class-agnostic, so BD can pursue novel issuers. |
| RWA layer | Who's there | To Sunrise |
|---|---|---|
| Tokenized-equity issuers | xStocks (Backed / Kraken), Ondo, Dinari (dShares), Securitize (broker-dealer ATS), Backpack Securities | Mix of competitors and partners; models differ on custody and redemption |
| RWA liquidity (PropAMMs) | BisonFi (leads PropAMM volume), Jump PropAMM (sub-1bp equity spreads) | partner the day-one liquidity layer for tokenized assets |
| Distribution and use | Jupiter routing; Backpack; Kamino and Loopscale for collateral | partner where RWAs trade and get used |
Sunrise partnered with Backpack to launch SPCX (tokenized SpaceX) on Solana on its listing day. That's the template: Sunrise supplies NTT-native issuance and day-one liquidity, PropAMMs like BisonFi and Jump provide tight RWA market-making, and Jupiter distributes. The BD job is to run that play across the next wave of equity, commodity and fund issuers.
The posting lists six responsibilities. Each one, turned into a plan, with where it's detailed on this page.
| JD duty | My plan | Detailed in |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Source, pitch, negotiate, close partnerships (issuers, Solana ecosystem projects) | Time outreach to TGE calendars and RWA issuers; lead with native, day-one liquidity; run a repeatable close with a standard listing package. | §06, §07 |
| 2 · Cultivate relationships (protocols, startups, DAOs, enterprise clients) | Own a mapped relationship set across issuers, protocols, Solana venues, MM and LP desks, and enterprise and RWA issuers, and keep them warm between deals. | §06, ★ |
| 3 · Partner with product and engineering on launches and GTM | Co-run the NTT deployment (managers, mint authority, rate limits, peers) and tailor GTM per issuer; be the issuer's single point through launch day. | §02, §09 |
| 4 · Analyze market trends, feedback, performance metrics | Run a Dune / Solscan lead and retention engine (who's bridging to Solana the hard way; which listings retain volume) and feed insights back to product. | §07 |
| 5 · Build, manage, execute a structured sales pipeline | Turn bespoke deals into a staged pipeline (source, qualify, scope, launch, expand) with weekly reporting and a written playbook. | §06, §09 |
| 6 · Work with internal teams (engineering, operations) | A launch-day handoff package (issuer, LP, venue, explorer, ops) so every listing ships clean and nothing falls between teams. | §09 |
Every deal is the same three-sided trade. The job is to make it a repeatable product rather than a scramble each time.
RWA and tokenized-equity issuers, new-chain and appchain TGEs, high-profile L2 launches, stablecoin issuers eyeing Solana distribution.
MM and LP desks that pre-seed pools: Wintermute, GSR, Meteora DLMM, PropAMM desks (BisonFi, Jump), exchange MM desks. Package it so day-one depth is set, not hoped for.
Jupiter, Raydium, Meteora, wallets (Phantom), explorers (Orb / Solscan), and CEXs with Solana ambitions, tradable and visible on arrival.
Staged pipeline: source, qualify, scope, launch, expand. Measured on listings closed, day-one liquidity depth, and volume retained on Solana after launch, not vanity TVL.
Each move ties to a real Sunrise or NTT mechanic, or a real competitor gap, rather than generic relationship-building.
Sunrise already lists stocks, gold and funds, and co-launched tokenized SpaceX with Backpack (★). Run that play across more equity, commodity and fund issuers, with PropAMMs (BisonFi, Jump) for tight day-one liquidity, where NTT's Global Accountant and compliance roadmap fit better than a memecoin venue.
Issuers pick their cross-chain standard once, early. Reach tokens a quarter or two before TGE and take the Solana leg for NTT before they default to OFT-only. The hook is burn-and-mint native issuance plus day-one liquidity.
NTT has no honeypot, so depth is pre-seeded. Stand up a standing liquidity program (MM and LP desks pre-committed) so each deal ships with real depth, which raw standards don't provide.
Interop works better by partnering with aggregators and venues than by competing. Set up co-marketing and referral with Meteora, Raydium, and Jupiter so Sunrise is the default external-asset on-ramp feeding their pools and routing.
The pilot listing is the template. Build a repeatable chain-TGE playbook and line up the next L1, L2 and appchain launches so each mainnet day includes a Sunrise listing.
No pooled TVL plus a Global Accountant supply invariant is a concrete difference from wrapped bridges, which matters to security-conscious exchanges, RWA issuers and institutions.
Lido (wstETH) and Wormhole's W already run on NTT. Expand proven NTT issuers onto Sunrise's Solana liquidity program and use them as references to de-risk the next issuer's decision.
Track tokens that bridged into Solana the wrapped or DIY way. They've shown Solana intent, which makes them high-intent leads for a native, day-one pitch. Built in Dune / Solscan.
A repeatable pattern worth its own memo: a major CEX building its own Solana CeDeFi DEX and launchpad. An exchange committing distribution and liquidity to Solana needs a supply of new listings, which is what Sunrise provides.
| Element | The play |
|---|---|
| The insight | Sunrise and a CEX's Solana launchpad are complementary, not competitive. Sunrise is the cross-chain issuance rail; the CEX venue is the distribution and launchpad. |
| The ask | 1) Co-listing pipeline: Sunrise issues natively, routes into the CEX launchpad. 2) The CEX MM desk pre-seeds Sunrise pools. 3) Clean NTT-native deposits into the CEX. 4) Later: Sunrise compliance and RWA rail into the CEX institutional desk. |
| First meeting | A co-listing pilot on the next appchain TGE or RWA drop, one asset end to end, as the proof. |
| Security fit | In a post-bridge-hack market, NTT's no-pooled-TVL design and Global Accountant supply invariant match a security-first exchange's priorities. |
The named target and full deal memo are in my application materials, kept off this public page.
Facts are drawn from public sources as of mid-2026: the live Sunrise app (sunrise.xyz, including the observed Stocks tab and RWA listings), Wormhole's NTT documentation, cross-chain token-standard comparisons (OFT, CCT, ITS, NTT), and public Solana venue data. Ticker examples are observed listings, not endorsements. Market-share numbers (for example Solana launchpads) move month to month and are quoted as ranges. This is an unsolicited blueprint prepared as interview homework; happy to walk through any section.
Sunrise app: sunrise.xyz
NTT: wormhole.com, Native Token Transfers
NTT docs: Wormhole Docs, NTT overview
Solana venues: Jupiter, Raydium, Meteora public data (2026)
Independent blueprint for the Wormhole Labs Business Development Manager, Sunrise role · 2026 · edwardtay.com