Written by: June, TechFlow
Spending $1,500 to join Network School, an experimental community founded by former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan—is this just an “IQ tax”?
I personally visited Network School, located in Forest City, Malaysia, to find out.
Building a Network School in a Real Estate Ghost Town
In August 2024, Balaji officially announced on Twitter that Network School would launch a 90-day trial operation phase from September to December of the same year.
In his tweet, Balaji excitedly stated: “Through the power of bitcoin, we now have a beautiful little island near Singapore, where we are building Network School.”
This tweet quickly attracted widespread attention and discussion in the Web3 community. Balaji’s wording made people full of longing for this “beautiful little island.” However, the reality is much more complicated.
To be precise, Network School is located in Forest City, Johor, Malaysia, about a half-hour drive from downtown Johor Bahru.
Forest City is a large-scale project developed by China’s Country Garden, consisting of four artificial islands. However, as the real estate market has slumped in recent years, this project in Malaysia has not been spared.
The city has even been called a “ghost town” by the BBC, with many modern high-rises but few people, becoming an abandoned city. This is another reflection of the difficulties faced by real estate companies during a market downturn.
Superior Geographical Location
It is undeniable that Forest City’s geographical location remains highly advantageous.
It takes only about an hour by car from Forest City to Singapore, and Network School provides dedicated shuttle services for its members. On the other hand, separated from Singapore by only a narrow strait, one can enjoy a relatively lower cost of living. As an important international financial center and tech hub, Singapore hosts many key crypto events and conferences, offering Network School members excellent opportunities for learning and networking.
However, there is always a gap between ideals and reality.
Although the location is excellent, daily convenience still needs significant improvement. Residents mainly rely on ride-hailing services like Grab to reach nearby city centers, and public transportation is relatively weak, which to some extent limits the range of activities and convenience for community members.
This relatively isolated and desolate state also creates a unique atmosphere for the community to some extent.
Welcome to Network School
First-time visitors to Forest City may be somewhat surprised by what they see.
Entering Forest City, you are greeted by a mix of modernity and desolation.
Lush greenery makes the place look vibrant, in stark contrast to the already closed shops. Every building’s balcony is filled with dense plants, as its name “Forest City” suggests. Chinese elements are everywhere: malatang shops, Chinese supermarkets, red lanterns, and familiar Chinese signs, making it feel like a small Chinese town. The empty streets and scattered shops are occasionally traversed by explorers from all over the world.
For practitioners in the Web3 field, this seemingly strange contrast may not be unfamiliar.
Many people in China also choose a “geo-arbitrage” lifestyle. For example, coding by Erhai Lake in Dali, holding online meetings by the sea in Aranya, or maintaining remote work in Hegang at one-tenth the cost of a first-tier city.
The desolation of Forest City and the vitality of Network School are very much like the Web3 industry itself: outside the mainstream, a group of people are building something on the ruins.
Most people gathered here have similar trajectories: tired of the rat race in traditional tech companies, believing in the future of Web3, and willing to trade lower living costs for greater entrepreneurial freedom. They might attend Token2049 in Singapore, then return to this overly quiet island to continue coding.
This community, built by Balaji, is trying to create a Web3 utopia in the most unlikely place.
Hello, welcome to Network School—a city of ideals not defined by convention, ambitiously trying to create the Harvard of a new era.
Living Costs and Accommodation Arrangements
The main community activities of Network School revolve around two locations: the community activity center and the hotel area.
The community activity center, set up on the ground floor of an apartment, is equipped with meeting rooms and co-working spaces.
The permanent base of Network School is located in a seaside hotel. Short-term participants usually choose to stay in hotel rooms, while other public facilities such as the gym, meeting rooms, Network School’s exclusive café, and library are all located within the hotel.
In terms of living costs, the current monthly fee for a double room is $1,500, covering accommodation, three meals a day, access to gym facilities, and participation in all courses. Network School is open year-round, and participants can flexibly choose their length of stay according to their needs and plans.
Short-term participants, such as those planning to stay for only one month, will stay in fully equipped hotel rooms, while long-term residents will stay in more fully equipped two-bedroom apartments, enjoying a more comfortable living space.
For dining, the community provides three complete meals a day: breakfast and dinner are buffet-style, while lunch is provided in bento boxes. Notably, the community has adopted the healthy eating plan promoted by Bryan Johnson (founder of Blueprint), focusing on nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.
The gym at Network School is also a highlight. It was built from scratch on vacant land at the hotel, fully equipped with various facilities, and members can initiate fitness training activities on their own.
The operating philosophy of Network School revolves around four core concepts: Learn, Burn, Earn, and Fun. Here, a typical day looks like this:
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Morning: Wake up, exercise, have breakfast according to the Blueprint diet plan.
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Forenoon: Head to the co-working space and focus on remote work.
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Afternoon: Book club, Vibe Coding, AI status discussions, DeFi 101 courses, or self-arranged side projects.
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Evening: Community dinner, self-organized small events.
A Gathering Place for “Dark Talent”
“Many people see Network School and instinctively think it’s a school, but in essence, it’s more like a community for like-minded Web3 people. There’s no fixed curriculum; learning is free,” Nikki explained.
Nikki (@nikkideyy) from the Philippines has been living here since June this year, for four months now.
Network School has no set curriculum or unified learning tasks. But the community occasionally throws out interesting learning challenges, such as discovering technical vulnerabilities on the website, creating promotional content, or shooting short videos. The “education” here is more like a continuous process of joint exploration.
According to Nikki, the current cohort has 270 people, making it the largest one so far. Network School has gone through two development phases: the first phase was a 90-day trial operation from September 23 to December 23, 2024.
The second phase starts from March 1, 2025, entering formal operation. This phase is called “Society-as-a-Service,” aiming to systematically train “society builders” and prepare for a future permanent campus.
“Some people are digital nomads, some have moved their offices here, and there are various accelerators and incubator projects, such as Solana Superteam and Monad Residency, which have made this their operating base.”
The Solana Superteam Singapore team held a six-week Ignition incubation residency at Network School from May to June, and the Monad Founder Residency held a three-week residency in August this year.
For Network School participants, the most important thing is probably the community atmosphere. Living, learning, and communicating with like-minded people is the biggest highlight here. Nikki feels the same way: “I’m at the intersection of wanting to create something and wanting to join something, and Network School gave me the perfect opportunity to explore what I really want to do in the future.”
Her feelings also reflect the core value of Network School: this is a gathering place for Dark Talent—those not accepted by the traditional education system but eager to create the future. These talents have innovative thinking and a hands-on spirit, but may be overlooked by the mainstream due to their non-traditional backgrounds.
Different people use this platform in different ways. Some move their offices here directly, while others use it as a transition station to explore their next steps.
Network School is gradually becoming a convergence point for Web3 culture and entrepreneurship.
The View from the Presidential Suite
The hotel’s reception room has now become the activity center for Network School members. Nikki also took us to visit the presidential suite, the largest reception room. The hotel is right on the coast, and from the balcony, you can clearly see Singapore across the water, as well as a bird’s-eye view of Forest City, with high-rises rising in the distance and a large area of well-planned residential zones. Unfortunately, most of these buildings are still vacant.
View from the presidential suite, photo by the author
Nikki admitted that she once went jogging with friends in the nearby residential area, only to find that most of the houses along the way were unoccupied. Nikki joked that what was supposed to be an ordinary run turned into a rather adventurous experience.
In fact, the spectacular scenery where Network School is located is itself a unique selling point. Driving into Forest City, you can see rows of high-rises rising up along the highway, which is particularly impressive compared to the relatively flat surrounding terrain. At the hotel entrance, there is a prominent sign for Network School, and upon entering the lobby, you are greeted by the modern NS Cafe set in front of huge floor-to-ceiling windows.
The NS Cafe, located in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, provides free coffee and drinking water for members
Author’s Postscript
Before setting out, I had already heard a bit about the story of Forest City. What impressed me most was the widely circulated “ghost town” video on social media two years ago. In the video, Forest City looked dilapidated and dark, shop signs had long fallen off, and the whole city looked like a ghost town.
Because of this, I was very curious about why Network School was set up here.
Driving into Forest City, the first thing you see is rows of high-rises, just like a movie scene. After entering Forest City, I first visited the community activity center set up under the apartment building. The brand-new appearance of the activity center looked very out of place compared to the abandoned shops around it.
At that time, I couldn’t help but wonder, is this all there is to Network School?
After arriving at the permanent hotel of Network School, my impression completely changed. Upon entering the lobby, members were quietly working in the café, with the blue sea outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Nikki took me to visit the meeting room, restaurant, library, yoga studio, and gym. All facilities are open to all members, who can also create their own clubs or organize sports activities.
Nikki and her fellow Pudgy Penguin holder founded Pudgy NS and held a Pudgy Party event
Since moving in June, Nikki said that more and more shops have started to open recently. After an on-site visit, I found that Forest City is not as deserted as the internet claims. It is not dirty or messy; there are staff everywhere cleaning up fallen leaves, security guards at the buildings, and maintenance workers maintaining the facilities.
So, is it worth spending $1,500 to join Network School?
Perhaps the answer does not lie in the price, but in whether you are willing to join these “Dark Talents” to build a utopia for the digital age here.
