A co-living community founded by ex-Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan is reportedly under investigation in Malaysia.
Malaysia is investigating a tech community founded by former Coinbase chief technology officer Balaji Srinivasan over claims it hosted Israelis who may have entered the country in breach of immigration rules.
The country’s Home Affairs Ministry said immigration officials, police and other agencies were examining the Network School, a co-living project for tech founders and digital nomads, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The investigation came amid allegations made through social media that Israeli citizens resided at the technology community after entering Malaysia with passports from different countries. There’s no proven case of immigration law violation and the individuals involved have not been identified yet.
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Srinivasan, a U.S. investor and one of crypto’s better-known Silicon Valley figures, founded the Network School in 2024 as a physical version of the online communities he has spent years promoting.
- He became Coinbase’s first chief technology officer in April 2018 when the crypto exchange acquired Earn.com, where he had served as co-founder and chief executive.
- Before that, Srinivasan was a general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and co-founder and chief technology officer of genetic-testing company Counsyl.
Malaysia Checks Travel Documents
Johor Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi called for the investigation after social media users claimed that the Network School had hosted Israelis who entered Malaysia on second passports.
Authorities are now seeking to establish the identities and nationalities of those involved, whether their travel documents were valid and what purpose they gave for entering the country. The Home Affairs Ministry said:
“If the investigation finds any violation of the law, misuse of immigration passes, provision of false information or any other offense that affects national security and interests, strict action will be taken without any compromise.”
Malaysia doesn’t maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, and entry into Malaysia is prohibited if one holds an Israeli passport. Nevertheless, it’s allowed for dual nationals to use other valid passports for travel to Malaysia, per the report.
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