According to Samson Mow (@Excellion), recent updates to Bitcoin Core standards have not effectively reduced out of band payments, as most mining pools utilize custom Core versions, allowing them to bypass these regulations. Enforcement is primarily targeted at regular users rather than miners and pools, which means the intended impact on transaction transparency and fee mechanisms is limited (Source: Twitter/@Excellion, May 11, 2025). For traders, this suggests continued variability in transaction fees and potential opacity in miner incentives, affecting trading strategies and on-chain fee forecasting.