Honestly, I don't think this is a beneficial change for the game -- I've never had any qualms about recommending Elite to anyone and everyone, despite it having micro-transactions for cosmetics; and that is because I felt it was done much more fairly and transparently than the vast majority of other titles, which obfuscate and confuse people with multiple tiers of currency purchases, "value" packs and other such rubbish. Not to mention that there are a numerous shady techniques and psychological tricks which come with such practices and I would really hate to see them employed by one of my fav devs in one of my fav games...
Now, the idea of earning "premium" (UGH!) currency by simply playing is not a bad one, but I have a feeling that however high or low the amount is set it will end up annoying someone -- if it's too low, it'll be deemed "another (as much as I hate the overuse of this word) grind" or just seen as simply not viable; set it too high and it'll perhaps feel like an afront to those who spent money on regular-cash purchases in the past.
So, if this whole new thing is something that simply cannot be avoided, then me, myself and I, speaking as simply a player and a fan, would urge FDev to look into how it is handled by other "big" companies and NOT follow the worst trends in industry. Instead either allow us to buy the points directly, for, let's say, increments of 0.10 of given currency; or find some other actually fair solution to this.
Eh, well, I do not think this means doom and utter gloom, for the game, but also, at the same time, I really cannot see myself recommending it (or even enjoying it) with clear conscience. This is, of course, again, my own personal opinion, anyway.