Verified was also going to be $20/mo, I'm sure businesses and researchers are just going to wait it out until the price drops.
Edit for context: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1587312517679878144
If you click on his checkmark it tells you that he's a legacy verified account and does NOT pay for Twitter Blue.
I’m sure pre-Musk Twitter got far more than $8/mo out of King posting on the site.
Twitter needs celebreties more than celebreties need a blue check mark