CoinBureau did a review of our exchange: https://www.coinbureau.com/review/blocksettle/

Nice, you are on the right path

As you know, HODLing is best done with the control of your own keys. You can use the BlockSettle Terminal as a standalone wallet without any signup. Integrates seamlessly with Trezor and Ledger. Free to download on www.blocksettle.com.

That's right - you can try out the entire model on testnet with testnet bitcoins (happy to send you some if you need). Once you have downloaded the Terminal, go to Settings -> Network to change environment.

For trading on mainnet with fiat currencies you are correct - KYC is required (conducted with Auth eID). However for just using the BlockSettle Terminal as a bitcoin wallet - there is no need to KYC.

Hi! Thank you for your curiosity Nice point, this is something we have on the backlog to do. Would be great if you wanted to try the product, which can also be run in testnet mode (settings in the BlockSettle Terminal). You can download the binary from our webpage and install that, or alternatively, build from source.

Announcing live trading on decentralized settlement network where bitcoin is settled peer-to-peer without exchange custody.

The BlockSettle Terminal is an open-source desktop wallet with opt-in access to a decentralized settlement network, built on Armory’s open-source code by Armory’s lead developer. Three years of active development.

Featuring hardware wallet compatibility, the option to run your own bitcoin indexing server, remote and offline signing, and a block explorer.

Trading is now live with bitcoin vs fiat (EUR, GBP, CAD), colored coins (coinjoin trading) and FX.

Webpage:
https://www.blocksettle.com/

Github:
https://github.com/BlockSettle/terminal
https://github.com/BlockSettle/BlockSettleDB

CTO: goatpig
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=7811

UPDATE:
BlockSettle version 0.90.7 released
https://www.blocksettle.com/downloads/terminal

Changelog:
- Support for Trezor’s latest firmware (1.9.1 and 2.3.1)
- Password management for Trezor

Note:
Trezors latest firmware introduces new requirements for signing segwit transactions, breaking previous builds. Details can be found here(link).
https://blog.trezor.io/details-of-firmware-updates-for-trezor-one-version-1-9-1-and-trezor-model-t-version-2-3-1-1eba8f60f2dd

The BlockSettle Terminal is an open-source desktop wallet that offers integrated non-custodial trading of bitcoin. The wallet is based on goatpig’s continued development of the Armory open-source stack.

Wallet features:
   •   BIP 32 (Hierarchical Deterministic) wallet(s)
   •   Native Segwit, Nested Segwit, Legacy address support
   •   Watching-Only wallets
   •   Offline/Remote signing
   •   Hardware Wallet support (Trezor / Ledger)
   •   Network connectivity through remote or local server
   •   Coin control
   •   RBF/CPFP
   •   Fee control
   •   BIP 39 and Armory seed imports
   •   Built-in blockchain explorer
   •   Armory interoperability

The trading model is a hybrid between centralized and decentralized platforms. In our model, the bitcoin leg is non-custodial (removing custody risk) while the fiat leg is centralized (in order to pool liquidity). Trading is currently limited to testnet while users get acquainted with the model.

Trading features:
   •   Request-for-Quote matching
   •   OTC off exchange reporting
   •   Encrypted chat
   •   Products
        o   Bitcoin vs fiat
        o   Bitcoin vs Coloured Coin (coinjoin trading)
        o   Fiat vs fiat (FX)

Webpage:
https://www.blocksettle.com/

Github:
https://github.com/BlockSettle/terminal
https://github.com/BlockSettle/BlockSettleDB

CTO: goatpig
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=7811