The high art scene is the evolved form of this. It knows to maintain enough legitimate artistry jammed in the crevices between the tax avoidance, money laundering, fraud, and flexing to cement the whole thing together and weather the occasional public ire. NFTs will be gone next season, but the high art grift will endure.
“All art” is obviously a hyperbole, but my impression is that it is widely known that high-end art auctions are used for money laundering. There are plenty of news articles about various governments making big busts and attempting cracking down on this.