I was shocked to discover after looking more closely that most of the popular NFTs do not contain the image hash in the blockchain token data, nor do they even contain the URL to the image! They simply contain an integer (the token ID).

The ERC721 interface only requires String GetTokenURL(int tokenId) be implemented!

I've wondered how much of that is really just laundering crypto?

Lets say you had a successful ransomware attack and got millions of dollars worth of BTC. How do you transfer that to a wallet you can use to cash out?

I've always figured thats why people will pay massive amounts of crypto for really stupid NFT things. Its sort of like an express lane for more traditional methods of money laundering. For example, you don't need the physical art piece to launder fine art. NFTs are way easier than doing it the old fashioned way.