Network School, Forest City

Network School (NS) is an experimental coliving + coworking community founded by Balaji Srinivasan — former Coinbase CTO and author of The Network State — in Forest City, Johor, Malaysia. Its motto is "Learn, Burn, Earn, Fun": learn new skills, get fit ("burn"), build and earn (often crypto-native), and enjoy a strong social scene, all from one campus near Singapore.

It draws founders, engineers, creators, athletes and digital nomads from 70+ countries. Think of it less as a traditional school and more as a residential community with daily fitness, deep-work time, talks, demo days and a builder network — run as a live experiment in Balaji's "network state" idea.

Key framing: NS is a private community, not a government program or an accredited university — there's no recognised qualification at the end.

Network School moved fast from idea to permanent community:

• Aug 2024 — Balaji previews a "longevity / technocapitalist school" near Singapore; the ns.com domain signals the ambition.
• Sep–Dec 2024 (v1) — the first 90-day popup runs (~23 Sep to ~23 Dec 2024) with ~128 participants in Forest City.
• 1 Mar 2025 (v2) — a much larger, year-long cohort of 256 members begins.
• May 2025 — NS shifts from popup to permanent, adding a "longtermer" program for multi-month stays.
• 2025–26 — the community grows to 400+ members from 70+ nationalities, one of the larger "startup society" experiments anywhere.

The direction of travel is clear: from a short experiment to a standing community that monthly cohorts rotate through.

Network School sits in Forest City — a large development by Chinese developer Country Garden, built on four man-made islands in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, in the south of Peninsular Malaysia:

• ~30 minutes by car from Johor Bahru (JB)
• ~1 hour from Singapore via the Second Link (Tuas)
• It carries duty-free status and now sits inside the Johor–Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ)

Forest City is famously under-occupied ("ghost city" in much press coverage). That cuts both ways: it's cheap, quiet and spacious, but amenities are limited compared to central JB or Singapore (though there's a duty-free mall, golf and beachfront on site). NS occupies part of this development as its campus.

Network School isn't happening in a vacuum — Forest City has become a policy showcase, which is part of why a project like NS landed here:

• JS-SEZ — Malaysia and Singapore signed the Johor–Singapore Special Economic Zone agreement on 7 January 2025 to ease the movement of people, goods and capital between the two; Forest City is one of its flagship zones.
• Forest City Special Financial Zone (SFZ) — to attract talent and capital, the zone offers headline incentives such as a 15% individual income-tax rate for qualifying "knowledge workers," a 0% rate for single-family offices, and a 5% concessionary rate for qualifying financial/fintech/global-business-services firms (subsidiary legislation gazetted in October 2025).

For most NS members these incentives won't apply directly (they're aimed at qualifying employers, family offices and specific roles), but they explain why Forest City is being repositioned from ghost city to special zone — and they're worth understanding if you're considering a longer-term move. Verify eligibility with a Malaysian tax professional.

Pricing runs roughly US$1,500–3,000/month depending on room type (from a shared/double room at the low end up to a private room), typically paid in crypto. The fee bundles most living and program costs:

• Accommodation (shared room from ~$1,500; longtermers generally get better housing for a similar price)
• Three meals a day — a health-focused, Bryan-Johnson-"Blueprint"-style diet
• Gym and daily fitness/coaching
• Coworking space
• Courses, talks, demo days and events

The "Earn" part is literal: members can pick up daily crypto bounties (~$1,000+/month) for things like open-source contributions, AI content and microtasks — a partial offset to the fee. There's also a Network School Fellowship offering subsidised or sponsored places for strong applicants who can't pay full freight.

Residency is flexible — one month up to long-term. Because so much is bundled, the all-in cost can compare favourably to renting + gym + coworking separately in a big city. Always confirm the current price and exactly what's included at ns.com, as it changes between cohorts.

NS is built around its "Learn, Burn, Earn, Fun" rhythm, and member accounts describe a fairly structured day:

• Burn — morning workouts and a strong fitness/longevity culture (the "Blueprint"-style meals reinforce it).
• Learn / Earn — long deep-work blocks for your own startup/job, plus talks, workshops and demo days featuring founders and operators.
• Fun / community — shared meals, social events and a tight peer network of ambitious people.

The appeal is the environment and peers: a high-intensity, health-oriented, builder-dense setting where the defaults (fitness, focus, shipping) are easy to follow. The flip side is that it's intense and ideologically distinct — it suits self-directed builders more than people wanting a structured curriculum.

NS skews toward tech and startup people: software engineers, founders, crypto/Web3 builders, content creators and remote workers — with a heavy health-and-fitness culture layered on.

It suits you if you want an intense, builder-focused, fitness-oriented community with a ready-made network near Singapore, and you're comfortable with a crypto-native, "network state"-aligned crowd. It's a poor fit if you want a conventional accredited course, a family setup, or a central-city lifestyle.

1. Apply at ns.com — the official site has the current application form, pricing and intake details.
2. Cohorts start on the 1st of each month with an orientation; apply early, as spots fill up.
3. Be ready to pay in crypto and to verify your background as part of the application.
4. Sort out your stay logistics — visa/entry (below), travel from Singapore or JB, and how long you intend to stay (a month vs. longtermer).

NS handles the community side, but your legal stay in Malaysia is your responsibility:

• Short stays: many nationalities get visa-free entry for 30–90 days as tourists — often enough for a one-month cohort. Check your passport's allowance.
• Longer stays: don't rely on repeated "visa runs." Use a proper route — Malaysia's DE Rantau Nomad Pass (digital-nomad visa) or, for some, MM2H. See our Visa Guide and MM2H Guide.
• Getting there: fly into Singapore (Changi) or Senai (JHB); Forest City is closest via the Tuas / Second Link.
• Money: keep a local e-wallet/bank or Wise for day-to-day spending in Johor, even though NS fees are crypto.

Confirm your specific eligibility with Malaysian Immigration (JIM) — not community hearsay.

Network School is the most concrete experiment so far in Balaji Srinivasan's "network state" thesis (from his 2022 book The Network State): the idea that online communities can grow into real-world, physically-clustered societies — a "startup society" — that might one day seek some form of recognition.

NS is essentially step one: gather an aligned online community in one physical place, run shared norms (learning, fitness, building), and iterate. Whether that ever becomes anything resembling a "state" is hotly debated — but as a community/coliving experiment in Johor, it is very real and operating.

Network School is one of several "network state" experiments — but the most permanent and the largest residential one:

• Zuzalu (Montenegro, 2023) — Vitalik Buterin's 2-month pop-up; a proof-of-concept that later decentralised into smaller "Zu-" events rather than a permanent base.
• Próspera (Roatán, Honduras) — a private special economic zone (ZEDE) with its own legal/tax framework; more a jurisdiction play than a coliving community.
• Vitalia (Roatán, 2024) — a longevity-focused pop-up on Próspera land; since split into Infinita and Viva City.
• Praxis — an online community raising capital to build a permanent "city-state"; still largely pre-physical.

Where NS differs: it's operating now, residential, and rotates monthly cohorts at scale (400+ members) rather than running one-off events — trading the legal autonomy of a Próspera for a low-friction, repeatable community an hour from Singapore. Balaji also runs the Network State Conference (Singapore, 2025) as the movement's flagship event.

A balanced guide has to note the skepticism, which is significant:

• Location reality — Forest City is widely described as a half-empty "ghost city"; early coverage highlighted unfinished buildings and thin amenities.
• Fees & crypto — crypto-only, prepaid fees have drawn scrutiny (some critics called the structure "sketchy"); do your own due diligence before sending money.
• Hype vs. substance — views range from "genuinely energising builder community" to "ideological marketing." Read first-hand member accounts, not just the official pitch.
• Not accredited — it's a private community, so there's no recognised qualification.

Bottom line: treat it as a paid coliving/community experience, verify everything at ns.com, talk to current/former members, and keep your visa and finances clean.