I would have preferred if they left the cryptocurrency out of their business plan but irc they included it to incentive mix node operators so that the network could grow with demand.
I don’t know if nym the company will survive but the mixnet they’ve devised could be used in future privacy applications.
I think it’s worth noting NYMVpn uses a quite advanced mixnet for security which is different from other VPNs and theoretically more secure than even TOR. I say theoretically because it hasn’t yet been proven with large scale use.
https://nym.com/blog/what-is-a-mixnet