Balaji Srinivasan, the former chief technology officer of Coinbase and a prominent advocate of tech-driven alternative governance, has moved to establish a new base for his Network School in Kazakhstan after Malaysian authorities shut down its operations in Johor.

Srinivasan had been searching for a location to build a nomadic education community tied to his broader idea of a “network state,” a new kind of political entity formed around global technology communities. He appeared to have found one in Malaysia, inside Forest City, a largely unfinished development across the waterway from Singapore.

Network School had operated there without major public controversy until a social media video that was vague about the school’s location drew scrutiny online. The attention escalated into a regulatory crackdown that led to the school’s closure on July 21.

A day later, Srinivasan was in Central Asia signing a memorandum of understanding with authorities in Kazakhstan. “Our new campus will become a haven for global techno-optimism, with expedited visas, streamlined redomiciliation, and active recruitment of talent,” he wrote in a July 22 post on X.

The episode has placed Srinivasan’s network-state ambitions at the intersection of crypto-friendly tech utopianism, diplomatic sensitivities around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the fallout from China’s real estate downturn. It also underscores a practical constraint for projects built around borderless technology communities: physical campuses still depend on local licensing, immigration rules, and political acceptance from host governments.

Why Malaysia revoked the license

Malaysian authorities began investigating Network School after online allegations that Israeli nationals had joined the program by entering Malaysia on passports from other countries. Malaysia does not recognize Israel and generally bars entry to holders of Israeli passports.

The investigation found no evidence of travel document violations. Even so, the Iskandar Puteri City Council revoked Network School’s business license on July 21, saying the operation had breached licensing conditions and premises-use requirements. The council also revoked the school’s advertising license after concluding that the business activities conducted at the site differed from the office use allowed under its license.

“The Johor state government takes note of and ​fully supports the decision of the Iskandar Puteri City Council’s special ​meeting to revoke the business licence and order the cessation of ⁠all activities of NS0 Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (Network School) in Forest City, effective ​22 July 2026,” Onn Hafiz Ghazi, chief minister of Johor, said in a social media post on July 21.

The matter has also developed into a diplomatic issue. Malaysia’s foreign minister told Bernama, the Malaysian government news agency, that one dual U.S.-Israel citizen had been ordered to leave the country. The U.S. State Department subsequently summoned Malaysia’s ambassador to explain the country’s position on Israel.

Fortune said it had contacted Network School for comment.

What Network School offered

Srinivasan launched Network School in Malaysia in 2024 as a 90-day pilot program for about 100 participants from around the world. In early 2025, he expanded it into a year-long program.

The compound operated as a co-living space for so-called technopreneurs and content creators. For $1,500 per month, participants received lodging, meals, gym access, and regular programming that included technology workshops and hackathons.

Participants told Singapore’s The Straits Times that the program cost less than comparable offerings in Silicon Valley and the United Arab Emirates, where similar programs can be three to five times more expensive.

“The existing model of U.S. undergraduate education is broken… you pay $100k+ for a four year degree, and then budget nothing for maintenance over the course of your life,” Srinivasan wrote in an X post in August 2024.

Srinivasan promoted the school’s proximity to Singapore as one of its main advantages. “It’s beautiful and sunny, and less than an hour from a major city (Singapore) with an international airport (Changi). That means you can be heads down during the week, head into the city on the weekends for fun, and get to just about anywhere in Asia within the same day,” he wrote at the time.

Malaysian officials had previously welcomed the project. Three months before the shutdown, digital minister Gobind Singh Deo described the campus as an “emerging destination for global technology talent.” The visit drew criticism online, with some users questioning government engagement with Srinivasan’s projects because of his views on alternative communities and governance.

Network School’s location near Singapore later became a focus of public attention. A July 10 social media advertisement described the school as being on a “man-made island near Singapore.” Online users then identified the school’s actual location as Johor, the Malaysian state bordering Singapore.

On the same day, an Instagram post from a pro-Palestinian activist group accused Network School of bringing Israelis into Malaysia in violation of the country’s laws.

The controversy was compounded by Srinivasan’s earlier use, in 2023, of the term “tech Zionism” to describe a network-state strategy involving land accumulation and self-determination. Although the term was used as an abstract governance analogy, it drew criticism in Malaysia, where public sentiment is strongly pro-Palestinian.

As pressure increased, Srinivasan sought a meeting with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and threatened to freeze investments in Malaysia. Those efforts did not prevent the shutdown.

Srinivasan’s background

Srinivasan became Coinbase’s chief technology officer in 2018 after the cryptocurrency exchange acquired his startup, and he left the company a year later. He had earlier co-founded the genetic-testing startup Counsyl and served as a general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

He has long argued for separating the global technology sector from traditional national sovereignty. In 2013, he said the U.S. technology industry should leave the country and move abroad. In 2022, he published a book outlining his “Network State” concept.

Srinivasan was also among the early Silicon Valley figures to warn about the threat and disruption posed by COVID-19 as the pandemic began spreading in the United States in early 2020.

In 2023, he attracted attention for a failed bet that Bitcoin would reach $1 million within 90 days. He abandoned the wager after two months and donated funds to the counterparty, the charity GiveDirectly, and a Bitcoin development fund.

“I just burned a million to tell you they’re printing trillions,” Srinivasan posted on X at the time after conceding the bet.

Forest City and the China connection

Network School operated from Forest City, a residential megaproject launched in 2016 by Chinese property developer Country Garden. The project was backed by China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s global infrastructure strategy spanning Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Forest City was intended to become a city for 700,000 people on the Malaysian side of the Strait of Johor, directly across from Singapore. Despite nearly $100 billion in committed investment, the project was never completed. Only 15% has been built, and an even smaller 1% is occupied.

The apartments were priced beyond the reach of many Malaysians, so the project targeted Chinese buyers. Those plans were undermined by Chinese capital controls, the COVID pandemic, and China’s property crisis, which was triggered by the collapse of real estate giant Evergrande.

Country Garden, once regarded as a “model developer,” has been involved in debt restructuring since 2023. The company reported $22.9 billion in revenue last year, down by more than two-thirds from its 2022 peak of $63.6 billion.

Johor has since included Forest City in the newly signed Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone and designated it a special financial zone. Officials have promoted the area as a hub for international family offices and capital. For Forest City, attracting technology communities and professional services is part of a broader effort to find uses for a development that has remained far below its original occupancy ambitions.

Kazakhstan’s role

Details about Network School’s proposed Kazakhstan campus remain limited. Srinivasan has said it will provide educational and research opportunities in artificial intelligence and support technology startups.

The five-year memorandum of understanding between Network School and Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development calls for the two sides to organize international events and hackathons. It also includes the possibility of a Network State conference in Kazakhstan this year.

“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 July 22 Instagram post. The ministry added that the campus would be designed to attract leading specialists, technology companies, and investment to Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan has been courting foreign technology companies. “We invite capital leaders to leverage our unique jurisdiction as your secure, high-yield launching pad,” President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on July 10. The country is also planning a one-gigawatt data center campus with partners including Nvidia.

The next test for Network School will be whether the Kazakhstan memorandum turns into an operating campus with the regulatory permissions and local support that its Malaysia project ultimately lacked.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.