A controversial self-proclaimed technology prophet had searched the world for a place to build a nomadic educational community. Balaji Srinivasan, Coinbase’s former chief technology officer, thought he had found one in Malaysia – specifically, in a largely unfinished complex directly across the waterway that separates the Southeast Asian country from its neighbor Singapore.
The Network School in Srivansan operated for years without incident until a single social media video that was extremely vague about its location caught the attention of social media users, prompting a government crackdown that led to the school’s closure on July 21.
The day after, Srivansan was in Central Asia and signed a memorandum of understanding with the authorities in Kazakhstan. “Our new campus will become a haven for global techno-optimism with expedited visas, simplified relocation and active talent recruitment,” he wrote a post from July 22nd on X.
It is the latest development in a week-long saga surrounding Srinivasan and his dream of building the “Network State,” a new kind of political entity born from the energies of the global tech sector; It’s a drama set amid crypto-friendly tech utopianism, ongoing tensions over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and even China’s real estate crash.
Why Malaysia closed it
Malaysian authorities opened their investigation following online allegations that Israeli nationals had joined the Network School program and entered the country on second-country passports. Malaysia does not recognize Israel and generally refuses entry to Israeli passport holders.
Found the probe no evidence of violations of travel documents. Nevertheless, on July 21, Iskandar Puteri City Council voted to revoke Network School’s business license, arguing instead that it had violated license conditions and premises use requirements. The council also revoked that Network School Advertising Licenseafter discovering that the business activities conducted at the premises deviated from its office occupancy license.
“The Johor State Government notes and fully supports the decision of the special meeting of the Iskandar Puteri City Council to revoke the business license and order the suspension of all activities of NS0 Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (Network School) in Forest City with effect from July 22, 2026,” said Johor State Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi a social media post on July 21st.
The dispute is now escalating into a diplomatic incident. Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Bernama saidA Malaysian government news agency reported that a U.S. and Israeli citizen was ordered to leave the country. That prompted the US State Department to invite the country’s ambassador to explain Malaysia’s position on Israel.
Assets Network School has asked for comment.
What is Network School?
Srinivasan launched the Network School in Malaysia in 2024 as a 90-day pilot for around 100 participants worldwide. He expanded it to a year-long program in early 2025.
The site functions as a co-living space for so-called technopreneurs and content creators. For $1,500 a month, it offers accommodation, meals, gym access and a regular program of tech workshops and hackathons.
Participants told Singapore newspaper The Times of the Straits that the program is cheaper than comparable offers in Silicon Valley and the United Arab Emirates, which can cost between three and five times as much.
“The existing model of U.S. undergraduate education is broken…You pay more than $100,000 for a four-year degree and then have nothing in your budget for maintenance over the course of your life,” Srinivasan wrote X contribution in August 2024.
Srinivasan cited the school’s proximity to neighboring Singapore as its key selling point. “It’s beautiful and sunny and less than an hour from a major city (Singapore) with an international airport (Changi). This means you can be upside down during the week, head into the city for fun on the weekend and arrive almost anywhere in Asia on the same day,” he wrote at the time.
Not long ago, Malaysian officials welcomed the project. Just three months ago, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo described the campus as an “emerging destination for global technology talent”. (The visit has caused some criticism onlineas netizens questioned the government’s commitment to Srinivasan’s projects despite his views on alternative communities and governance.)
The Network School’s proximity to Singapore has attracted attention. A July 10 social media advertisement for the school highlighted that the school was on a “artificial island near Singapore.” Online sleuths then set out to investigate and discovered that the Network School was actually located in Johor, the Malaysian state that lies across the border from Singapore.
On the same day, an Instagram post A pro-Palestinian activist group accused Network School of bringing Israelis to Malaysia in violation of the country’s laws.
Curiously, in 2023, Srinivasan had used the term “Tech-Zionism” to describe the network-state strategy of land accumulation and the pursuit of self-determination. The term, used as an abstract governance analogy, was poorly received in a country where public sentiment is strongly pro-Palestinian.
As the walls began to close, Srinivasan tried to ask for a meeting with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and unsuccessfully threatened to freeze investments in Malaysia.
Who is Balaji Srinivasan?
Srinivasan served as Coinbase’s chief technology officer in 2018 after the exchange acquired his startup and left the company a year later. Previously, he was co-founder of the genetic testing startup Counsyl and general partner of the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz.
He is also known for his long push to detach the global tech sector from national sovereignty. In 2013, he argued that the U.S. tech industry should leave the country and move abroad. In 2022, he published a book detailing his idea for the “Network State.”
Srinivasan was also one of the first people in Silicon Valley to warn about the threat and disruption of the COVID pandemic, just as it began to spread across the United States in early 2020. He also briefly drew attention in 2023 to an ill-fated bet that Bitcoin would reach $1 million in 90 days – which he abandoned after just two months, donating funds to the counterparty, the charity GiveDirectly, and a Bitcoin development fund.
Nevertheless, Srinivasan put on a brave face as he collected the bet. “I just burned a million to tell you they’re printing trillions,” he said posted on X at the time.
The Chinese Perspective: Forest City
The Network School operates out of Forest City, a residential mega-project launched in 2016 by Chinese real estate developer Country Garden. The project was even supported by China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global strategy to build infrastructure in Asia, Africa and Europe.
The goal was to build a city that could accommodate 700,000 people on the Malaysian side of the Strait of Johor, directly across from Singapore. But despite nearly $100 billion in promised investments, construction was never completed. Only 15% of the project is built and an even smaller 1% is occupied.
Forest City apartments were too expensive for most Malaysians, so the project targeted Chinese buyers. But Chinese capital controls, the COVID pandemic and then the housing crisis – triggered by the collapse of real estate giant Evergrande – have dashed those hopes.
Country Garden, once known as “Model developer“has been stuck in a debt restructuring since 2023. The developer reported revenue of $22.9 billion last year, more than two-thirds less than its peak of $63.6 billion in 2022.
Since then, Johor has incorporated Forest City into the city re-signed Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone and referred to it as a Special financial zoneand officials describe it as a hub for international family offices and capital.
Why Kazakhstan?
Details about the Network School’s new campus are scarce. Nevertheless, Srinivasan promises to provide a space for it Education and research opportunities in the field of AI as well as support for technology start-ups.
The five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Network School and the country’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development stipulates that both signatories will organize international events and hackathons this year, as well as a possible Network State conference in Kazakhstan.
“This memorandum will form the basis for the implementation of joint projects and the further development of Kazakhstan as a regional center for artificial intelligence and innovation,” Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development wrote in a Instagram post from July 22ndwhich added that the campus will also be built to attract leading professionals, technology companies and investments to Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan is trying to compete with foreign technology companies. “We invite capital leaders to use our unique jurisdiction as your safe, high-yield launching pad,” said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on July 10. The country is planning a one-gigawatt data center campus with partners such as Nvidia.