So, as @chancerydaily points out, legacy blue checks who don't want the blue checks are currently stuck with the blue checks and Musk is implying they may be paying.
And the only way to hide the blue check is if you actually do pay, where you will soon get an option to hide the fact that you pay.
This truly is the dumbest timeline.
@mmasnick @chancerydaily and yet the API responses still show legacy verified and other verified as separate lol