Inside NYM’s Vision: Alexis Roussel on Privacy, Mixnets, and Community — Interview from N Crypto Conference 2025

On April 27, 2025, Kyiv hosted the N Crypto Conference, bringing together key players from across the digital asset space. Among them was the team from Nym, including Chief Operating Officer Alexis Roussel. The Coinomist’s Vlad Vovk had the opportunity to sit down with Roussel for an exclusive interview.

With Alexis Roussel, we discussed:

• Why privacy matters in today’s digital world
• Why mixnets could be the next major step in internet infrastructure
• How everyday users can start protecting their online data 

What is NYM and Why Does the Internet Need It?

Every action online leaves a footprint, from the websites we visit to the metadata revealing who we are, where we’re located, and whom we’re connected to. Even with tools like VPNs or Tor, some of that information still leaks and can be used against us. 

Nym is developing infrastructure where privacy is built directly into the architecture of the network.

At the heart of the project is a mixnet. This system:

• Breaks traffic into individual fragments 
• Mixes it with other data 
• Introduces delays
• Sends it through multiple routes

This approach makes it nearly impossible to trace the origin of a message. Unlike centralized VPNs, Nym operates on Web3 principles, with a network maintained by volunteers who earn rewards in NYM tokens.

The Coinomist: Why does the world need NYM? In one sentence.

Alexis Roussel: Because the world needs privacy to be safe.

How Long Until Mixnets Become Mainstream?

A mixnet hides more than just the content of a message. It obscures the fact that any communication took place. The system breaks data into fragments, mixes them with unrelated traffic, and adds delays, making it nearly impossible to link sender and recipient. 

While more technically demanding than a traditional VPN, a mixnet offers far stronger privacy. The key question is whether this kind of system will ever reach widespread adoption—and when.

The Coinomist: How long do you think it will take for mixnets to become as common as VPNs or other privacy tools?

Alexis Roussel: It will take time because we are at a really early stage of development.

But it will come at the same time as the perception of privacy becomes more and more important. The mixnet is the only option that really hides the people and really protects the people. So, more and more critical services will move on to mixnets.

The technology may still be niche, but the demand for privacy is growing, and so is the interest in solutions that can deliver it. That’s why NYM is now focusing not only on infrastructure but also on practical, ready-to-use products.

NYM's Mission Today: From Infrastructure to Applications

Nym originally launched as a purely infrastructure project. The team focused on building a mixnet, a network of nodes that routes encrypted traffic. However, in that form, the technology remained largely inaccessible to everyday users. 

Now, the focus has shifted. Nym is developing ready-to-use tools that make privacy a part of daily digital life. The first step is NymVPN, an app that works like a standard VPN but runs on a decentralized network and includes built-in metadata protection.

When asked whether Nym’s mission has evolved since its inception, COO Alexis Roussel said: 

Yeah, absolutely. Our mission today is to show the NymVPN, which is an app that people can use already today. It's very simple to use, like a normal VPN, but it's built on a decentralized network. It is built with a Web3 economy. There's a token that fuels the whole system. At the beginning, we were focusing on building the mixnet and the infrastructure, and we didn’t have an app. Now we have the app — that's the difference.

By releasing its own app, Nym signals its transition from infrastructure builder to active market contender. They aim to make privacy not just a niche concern for tech-savvy users, but a default option for anyone online.

NYM's Strategy: Embedding Mixnets in Everyday Tools

Nym is working to make privacy an invisible layer of everyday digital services by embedding mixnet technology directly into browsers, messaging platforms, and other apps.

The Coinomist: How does NYM plan to drive the mass adoption of mixnets?

Alexis Roussel: Basically, through applications that people already know. The first application is a VPN — something people are familiar with. But our VPN is decentralized and has the mixnet feature. We are also in many discussions to integrate the mixnet directly into browsers and messaging apps so that people don't even know they're using a mixnet.

This approach removes friction for users. They don’t need to understand the underlying technology to gain real data protection. Privacy simply runs in the background, becoming a natural part of the digital experience.

“The Hero is the Crowd”: The Role of the Community in Digital Privacy

Privacy doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Even the most secure technology needs a community of thousands of people who will use it, build on it, and protect it. That’s where the real power of Web3 comes from: a decentralized, resilient ecosystem that operates beyond the control of centralized institutions.

The Coinomist: Who is your hero in the fight for digital privacy?

Alexis Roussel: My personal hero… wow, that's a tough question. I don't have a direct answer to this. My personal hero is a group of anonymous people — it's the crowd. Because the crowd creates Web3, decentralization, and we are using the crowd to build privacy. In order to hide, you need to hide inside the crowd. So, yeah, for me, the hero is the crowd.

For Nym, privacy protection isn’t a solitary pursuit. It’s a collective effort, where each participant in the network contributes to a shared layer of defense. Only by working together can we build an internet where privacy is the norm, not the exception.

Privacy as a Dynamic Process: Is There a Point of No Return?

Privacy isn’t a static condition—it’s a process. Today’s data leaks and mass collection may seem irreversible, but as Alexis Roussel reminded us, the future remains open to change. What we build now will protect generations to come.

The Coinomist: Is there a point of no return in privacy? When will it be too late to fight for?

Alexis Roussel: When we talk about privacy and security, you always have to see it as dynamic. For our generation, it's already too late because all our data is already available. But now we have to build up for the future. The more we build privacy, the more we can reduce the amount of data collected for future generations. Maybe the new kids will grow up in a privacy-friendly environment. So it's dynamic.

While much has already been lost, the fight for privacy is far from over. By developing infrastructure today, Nym is laying the groundwork for a future where control over personal data shifts back to the user.