Because when reddit was introducing the new API pricing and said it would be affordable and they would work with developers of 3rd party apps to make a smooth transition, that was obviously how things went. Everyone knows that because reddit makes a claim they follow through on it with 100% accuracy. You’re not wrong to read the article and cite info from it, but there’s no reason to believe that’s what’s going to happen either.

I’m sure they’ll let mods flip a subreddit to paid-only and offer them a cut.