Summary to complete the thread so it matches the title.
If you want to use wifi card that supports it in monitor mode:
- create custom nerves system
- if you need special driver add custom buildroot package, you will also need to enable usb and usb_net in kernel config
- add iw buildroot package
- make sure that your wifi card is properly powered otherwise buggy behavior is possible
I will link PR on my nerves system when I clean it up.