Liquid Manzana, Bitcoin, and Why Building Matters More Than Speculation
Introduction
El Salvador attracts many people for different reasons. Some come for Bitcoin. Some for opportunity. Some because they feel that something important is being built here, and they want to be part of it before it hardens into institutions.
Pedro Solis belongs to the last group.
Born in the United States to Salvadoran parents, Pedro moved between two worlds long before Bitcoin existed. He worked with the government, helped shape policy, built and sold companies, and discovered Bitcoin early, not as a theory, but as something you could actually use.
Liquid Manzana is not his first project. It is a consequence of how he thinks about ownership, capital, community, and time.
We spoke in El Salvador, at a moment when Liquid Manzana is launching publicly. This conversation is not about price, tokens, or hype. It is about systems, land, access, and why some people decide to build instead of speculate.
Interview
Janusz: Pedro, can you introduce yourself to our readers so they know who we are talking to?
Pedro: My name is Pedro Solis. I am a Salvadoran American. I was born in the US. My parents are Salvadoran. I grew up coming here my whole life. I left for almost twenty years, when things started getting spicy. Then El Salvador changed. It became safe. Bitcoin became legal tender. The doors opened to business, especially digital business. So we came down and started building.
Janusz: You came from the US. What is your background?
Pedro: It is varied. I worked with the US government and with the Texas government, specifically in the legislative branch. Lawmaking, policymaking. Before that and after that, I was an entrepreneur. I had some good exits, some good wins.
My Bitcoin story started around 2013 or 2014.
Janusz: That is early. How did you even find Bitcoin back then?
Pedro: On Craigslist. Or Facebook. I actually have a Facebook post from back then. We drove from Austin to Houston to buy Bitcoin.
Janusz: That is a real story?
Pedro: Very real. We found a post, drove down, met a guy in a coffee bar slash alcohol place. He tells me to download a wallet, scan a code. I give him cash. He says, you will get it in 24 hours.
Janusz: So you give money and walk away with nothing in your hand.
Pedro: Exactly. It was anti climactic. I just gave someone money and walked out.
Janusz: What made you do it anyway?
Pedro: Curiosity. If you see something you do not understand and you have half a brain, you look it up. Bitcoin had already gone from basically nothing to a few hundred dollars. Worst case I lose 200 dollars. Best case it does what it already did once.
Janusz: What were you doing professionally at that time?
Pedro: I was not in tech at all. We had an exotic wood refinishing company. High end imported wood decks. We restored them, made them beautiful again. We eventually sold that company.
Janusz: So Bitcoin was not your job.
Pedro: No. It was just something I used. My first Bitcoin transaction was buying a rifle. One of my favorite rifles. It cost about 300 dollars back then. Today it is worth maybe ten times that. That is my most appreciating rifle. But more important than the price was realizing that Bitcoin was real money. You could actually use it.
Janusz: And that changed how you looked at it.
Pedro: Yes. At first you think transaction. Then you realize holding matters. Then you start seeing a bigger picture. I was in Switzerland recently at PlanB. Someone was asked what the Satoshi white paper means to him. He said it changed his life. He lives healthier, cleaner, more efficiently. Everything he does has intention. That answer stayed with me.
Janusz: It is strong.
Pedro: You learn from people in this space. Not just about money. About behavior. About systems. And yes, we should be honest, there is almost two trillion dollars in Bitcoin today. That matters too.
Janusz: For me it is coherent. Things built around real value shape how people behave. Low time preference. Long horizon.
Pedro: Exactly.
Pedro: Think about barter systems. They work, but they are limited. If you are a gardener, I need you often. If you are a plumber, I need you rarely. Money solves that mismatch. It transfers value across time.
I had friends who built a local barter economy in South Carolina. It worked, but it was a micro market. Bitcoin can do that globally.
People say tokenization just moves the dollar on chain. But the dollar is what everything is measured in anyway. Bitcoin has eight decimal points. People only think in two. There are entire markets we have not even started to explore.
Janusz: It shows scale.
Pedro: Exactly. The scale is there.
Janusz: Let us talk about Liquid Manzana.
Pedro: Manzana is a unit of land. About 1.7 acres. Liquid Manzana is about democratizing ownership of land backed projects.
Not everyone has a million dollars. Some people have 100 dollars. They should still have access. Same upside. Same returns. Not charity. Participation.
Whether it is web2 or web3 financing, large private projects usually exclude most people. We want to include them.
Janusz: So access is the core idea.
Pedro: Yes.
Janusz: Where did the idea come from?
Pedro: The idea came from a real situation. A member of my partner’s church was closing his pizza shop because rent went up. The building cost 600 thousand dollars. We said, fine. Six hundred people put in one thousand dollars. We buy it.
The investors benefit, but so does the community. The pizza shop stays open.
That is what I want to build. Things that help the world. Energy. Infrastructure. Knowledge. El Salvador can become fully first world. Full access. People living well.
This place can be the Switzerland of Bitcoin and digital assets.
Janusz: You hear a lot of people here who left the US, Canada, Europe, to come to El Salvador and build.
Pedro: I am part of that. This space is only about fifteen years old. Five years in and you are already an expert. The twelve year people are the Yodas.
But we need mentorship. We need people who understand traditional systems and can bridge them with Bitcoin. There is almost two trillion dollars here already. It cannot stay static.
Janusz: It will move.
Pedro: Without question.
Closing
Liquid Manzana is launching at a moment when many people are asking what Bitcoin is for, beyond holding and speculation. Pedro Solis is not offering a shortcut or a narrative. He is building a structure that assumes people will stay, participate, and take responsibility.
That may be the hardest kind of project to build.
And the most necessary.
Pedro Solis
Liquid Manzana, Bitcoin, and Why Building Matters More Than Speculation
Introduction
El Salvador attracts many people for different reasons. Some come for Bitcoin. Some for opportunity. Some because they feel that something important is being built here, and they want to be part of it before it hardens into institutions.
Pedro Solis belongs to the last group.
Born in the United States to Salvadoran parents, Pedro moved between two worlds long before Bitcoin existed. He worked with government, helped shape policy, built and sold companies, and discovered Bitcoin early, not as a theory, but as something you could actually use.
Liquid Manzana is not his first project. It is a consequence of how he thinks about ownership, capital, community, and time.
We spoke in El Salvador, at a moment when Liquid Manzana is launching publicly. This conversation is not about price, tokens, or hype. It is about systems, land, access, and why some people decide to build instead of speculate.
Interview
Janusz: Pedro, can you introduce yourself to our readers so they know who we are talking to?
Pedro: My name is Pedro Solis. I am a Salvadoran American. I was born in the US, my parents are Salvadoran. I grew up coming here my whole life. I left for almost twenty years, when things started getting spicy. Then El Salvador changed. It became safe. Bitcoin became legal tender. The doors opened to business, especially digital business. So we came down and started building.
Janusz: You came from the US. What is your background?
Pedro: It is varied. I worked with the US government and with the Texas government, specifically in the legislative branch. Lawmaking, policymaking. Before that and after that, I was an entrepreneur. I had some good exits, some good wins.
My Bitcoin story started around 2013 or 2014.
Janusz: That is early. How did you even find Bitcoin back then?
Pedro: On Craigslist. Or Facebook. I actually have a Facebook post from back then. We drove from Austin to Houston to buy Bitcoin.
Janusz: That is a real story?
Pedro: Very real. We found a post, drove down, met a guy in a coffee bar slash alcohol place. He tells me to download a wallet, scan a code. I give him cash. He says, you will get it in 24 hours.
Janusz: So you give money and walk away with nothing in your hand.
Pedro: Exactly. It was anti climactic. I just gave someone money and walked out.
Janusz: What made you do it anyway?
Pedro: Curiosity. If you see something you do not understand and you have half a brain, you look it up. Bitcoin had already gone from basically nothing to a few hundred dollars. Worst case I lose 200 dollars. Best case it does what it already did once.
Janusz: What were you doing professionally at that time?
Pedro: I was not in tech at all. We had an exotic wood refinishing company. High end imported wood decks. We restored them, made them beautiful again. We eventually sold that company.
Janusz: So Bitcoin was not your job.
Pedro: No. It was just something I used. My first Bitcoin transaction was buying a rifle. One of my favorite rifles. It cost about 300 dollars back then. Today it is worth maybe ten times that. That is my most appreciating rifle. But more important than the price was realizing that Bitcoin was real money. You could actually use it.
Janusz: And that changed how you looked at it.
Pedro: Yes. At first you think transaction. Then you realize holding matters. Then you start seeing a bigger picture. I was in Switzerland recently at PlanB. Someone was asked what the Satoshi white paper means to him. He said it changed his life. He lives healthier, cleaner, more efficiently. Everything he does has intention. That answer stayed with me.
Janusz: It is strong.
Pedro: You learn from people in this space. Not just about money. About behavior. About systems. And yes, we should be honest, there is almost two trillion dollars in Bitcoin today. That matters too.
Janusz: For me it is coherent. Things built around real value shape how people behave. Low time preference. Long horizon.
Pedro: Think about barter systems. They work, but they are limited. If you are a gardener, I need you often. If you are a plumber, I need you rarely. Money solves that mismatch. It transfers value across time.
I had friends who built a local barter economy in South Carolina. It worked, but it was a micro market. Bitcoin can do that globally.
People say tokenization just moves the dollar on chain. But the dollar is what everything is measured in anyway. Bitcoin has eight decimal points. People only think in two. There are entire markets we have not even started to explore.
Janusz: It shows scale.
Pedro: Exactly. The scale is there.
Janusz: Let us talk about Liquid Manzana.
Pedro: Manzana is a unit of land. About 1.7 acres. Liquid Manzana is about democratizing ownership of land backed projects.
Not everyone has a million dollars. Some people have 100 dollars. They should still have access. Same upside. Same returns. Not charity. Participation.
Whether it is web2 or web3 financing, large private projects usually exclude most people. We want to include them.
Janusz: So access is the core idea.
Pedro: Yes.
Janusz: Where did the idea come from?
Pedro: The idea came from a real situation. A member of my partner’s church was closing his pizza shop because rent went up. The building cost 600 thousand dollars. We said, fine. Six hundred people put in one thousand dollars. We buy it.
The investors benefit, but so does the community. The pizza shop stays open.
That is what I want to build. Things that help the world. Energy. Infrastructure. Knowledge. El Salvador can become fully first world. Full access. People living well.
This place can be the Switzerland of Bitcoin and digital assets.
Janusz: You hear a lot of people here who left the US, Canada, Europe, to come to El Salvador and build.
Pedro: I am part of that. This space is only about fifteen years old. Five years in and you are already an expert. The twelve year people are the Yodas.
But we need mentorship. We need people who understand traditional systems and can bridge them with Bitcoin. There is almost two trillion dollars here already. It cannot stay static.
Janusz: It will move.
Pedro: Without question.
Closing
Liquid Manzana is launching at a moment when many people are asking what Bitcoin is for, beyond holding and speculation. Pedro Solis is not offering a shortcut or a narrative. He is building a structure that assumes people will stay, participate, and take responsibility.
That may be the hardest kind of project to build.
And the most necessary.
