RWA Summit 2026 – Reinventing ownership
An evening that marked a turning point—digital identities for valuable assets as the standard of the future.
Every Sunday, his grandfather takes the same Ferrari out of the garage. He is eight years old. He doesn’t know much about it. But he senses that this is something special. He can tell by the way his grandfather’s hand grips the steering wheel.
Someday, this Ferrari will belong to him. And then? Will he know what he’s holding in his hands? Will he be able to prove what this car has been through? Will he be able to sell it for the price it deserves?
Or will the story of this car end with his grandfather?
These very questions were the focus of the event we hosted on March 5, 2026 in Hanover. It was a live experience with people who work daily at the intersection of physical value and the digital future. And, of course, there was a fantastic musical performance that added a special touch to the evening.
RWA Summit 2026 – An Evening in the Heart of Hanover
Of course, the whole team was excited. After all, it was a very special day that we had been eagerly anticipating and working toward for weeks. The Old City Hall, as our venue, was the perfect setting for our mission: to serve as a guardian straddling history and the future. To build a bridge between history, tradition, and a sense of values, and forward-looking technology. And that is exactly what we did that evening: We brought the future to a place that stands as a testament to centuries of city history.
At 4:30 p.m., the doors opened for the welcome reception. We hope everyone immediately noticed that we had organized more than just a technology event. We brought together in one room what is rarely found in a single program: expertise from the fields of private banking, classic car dealerships, insurance, blockchain technology, law, and music.
Christiane Stein, known from her time at n-tv and now active as an IT and tech expert as well as a LinkedIn Top Voice, hosted the evening. A moderator who translates technology topics into human stories—and thus struck exactly the right tone for this evening.
The Future Between Traditional and Digital Assets
Panel 1: From Tradition to Modernity
The first panel session brought together four voices who know the market in their respective fields like few others: Johannes Huebner (Joh. Huebner autoconsult), Silvester Plotka (Head of Private Banking & Private Investor, NORD/LB), Sebastian Riedl (Managing Director & Owner, Christian Abt Classic), and Julia Ries (Head of Germany, ARTE Generali).
What emerged was not a technological debate, but a human one. Silvester Plotka summed it up in a way that a private banker rarely does in public:
“With illiquid assets, returns are rarely the main focus—it’s the emotion.”
And then came the sentence that hung in the air: The biggest weakness today is not market volatility, nor regulation. It is missing or insufficient documentation.
Johannes Huebner put it in terms of timing: The moment of truth comes later. Collectors buy classic cars out of passion. Documentation is often secondary—until the moment comes when it matters. At the time of sale. When insuring the vehicle. When passing it on.
Sebastian Riedl, who works with classic cars on a daily basis, was even more specific: One in every two vehicles lacks clear documentation. Sometimes no one even knows what color a Ferrari Dino originally was. His conclusion, which no one in the room has forgotten:
“History. History. And history again.”
Julia Ries added from the perspective of the insurance industry: Collections—the larger and more valuable they are—must be digitized. If documentation is missing, risk becomes difficult to assess. No appraisal, no policy: no security.
The numbers behind the event
Two slides in the presentation highlighted the context in which this evening took place—and in which vountain operates:
“80 percent of all assets worldwide lack a standardized, digital documentation structure. No system of record. No verifiable history.” and:
“By 2030, assets worth over 15 trillion euros will be transferred to the next generation.”
Two figures that, taken together, create a quiet sense of urgency. Those who don’t start today will hand over a document with no history to the next owner.
“Structure and data security are the new trust.”
Panel 2: Trust in Technology
The second panel session focused explicitly on technology and regulation—yet remained surprisingly down-to-earth. Anna Graf (Innovation Lead Emerging Tech, Arvato Systems | Bertelsmann), Dr. Steffen Haerting (Senior Manager, Deloitte), and Dr. Nina-Luise Siedler (Partner & Founder, siedler.legal) discussed what it means to build trust in systems that have no central authority.
Anna Graf summed up the implications: Blockchain is no longer a vision. It is a stable infrastructure. The question is no longer “if,” but “when.” And whether people will be on board. Because adoption is what matters.
From a legal perspective, Dr. Nina-Luise Siedler highlighted how the regulatory framework in Europe has solidified in recent years—from the Electronic Securities Act to the MiCA Regulation. Technology and law are converging. That is a good thing.
Short Espresso Break—and a Room Full of Conversations
The break between panels was no break at all. It was the moment when the discussions from the panels continued in one-on-one conversations. If you want to gauge the quality of such evenings, you don’t look at the slides. You look to see if people are still talking during the break or if they’re answering their phones.
People were talking
Fireside Chat: The Human Touch in Digital Wealth
“Wealth is the means, and people are the end.”
An insurance expert and a music manager sit on the same panel. Two completely different worlds, really. One thinks in terms of risk, premiums, and quantifiability. The other in terms of sound, history, and human significance.
And then something strange happens: they say the same thing.
Christian Ludwig, Head of Music and Artists at Art & Strings GmbH, put the human dimension into words that resonated throughout the room:
Wealth is the means, and people are the end. The emotional dimension must never be lost.
Many perspectives, and in between them the real question of the evening: How do you protect things that hold both value and meaning? Things that are both measurable in numbers and yet cannot be captured by any number?
Technology can help. But it is not the answer. It is the tool.
Live Music Session: Why a Cello in This Room Was No Accidental Choice
Immediately following the fireside chat came a moment that transformed the evening from a conference into something else entirely: Manuel Lipstein, cellist and composer, performed live—in the context of a family foundation.
A string instrument. In a town hall. After panels on blockchain, regulation, and wealth transfer. And yet it fit perfectly. Because what a historic string instrument is—in terms of sound, history, and emotion—is exactly what vountain has been tokenizing since its founding: not the object, but its significance.
The fact that a cello by Antonio Stradivari stood on stage, while precisely such instruments are documented as digital product passes in the vountain dApp, was no coincidence. Art, culture, and patronage are the foundation of vountain.
The launch moment: vountain dApp 2.0 is ready
At 7:35 p.m., the moment everyone had been waiting for finally arrived:
“vountain dApp 2.0 is ready. Exclusive Early Access Starts Now.”
What was visible on the screens was not a mockup presentation, not a concept pitch. It was the finished application: the vountain dApp 2.0, live, with real tokenized assets—a Ferrari 365GT 2+2 Coupe, historic Stradivarius violins, a Patek Philippe Aquanaut.
Each asset comes with complete documentation: provenance and origin. Appraisals and certificates. Transaction histories. Real-time data. All cryptographically sealed, not publicly viewable, not speculative. Within a curated, verified network.
The app brings to light what was previously tucked away in drawers—and makes it accessible worldwide, tamper-proof, and generationally sustainable.
Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, refers to this as the “System of Record”: Without structured, validated, and trustworthy data, there can be no reliable AI.
vountain takes this very principle to its logical conclusion for the world of physical assets.
“We are at a turning point.”
vountain and Christian Abt Classic are partnering
The summit yielded more than just discussions. vountain and Christian Abt Classic—one of the most renowned names in high-quality restoration, preservation, and brokerage of sports cars, race cars, and classic cars, specializing in Porsche and Ferrari—announced a strategic partnership.
Effective immediately, classic vehicles and premium limited-edition cars will be tokenized jointly. Buyers and owners will receive not only an exceptional automobile—but also a digital product passport with a fully documented history, expert reports, restoration records, and ongoing updates, immutably stored on the blockchain.
The first joint appearances are already planned: the Oldtimer Grand Prix 2026 at the Nürburgring, Classic Cologne 2026, and the Jochpass Oldtimer Memorial 2026.
Experience Corners and Get-together
Starting at 8:00 p.m., the Experience Corners opened—interactive stations where guests could experience the dApp for themselves.
What followed was what evenings like this are ultimately made for: conversations. Drinks. The exchange between people who wouldn’t otherwise be sitting in the same room.
What this evening revealed
One could summarize such an evening with data—attendee numbers and lists of panelists. But that wouldn’t be the whole story.
What March 5, 2026, revealed at the Old Town Hall in Hanover can be summed up in a single sentence, as Sandro Pittalis put it in his keynote address:
“We are at a turning point.”
Not as a prediction. But as a description of what is already happening. 80 percent of assets lack digital documentation. 15 trillion euros in generational transfers by 2030. Markets where collectors, insurers, and investors have long demanded authentic, validated, verifiable data—not just claims.
Anyone who owns a significant asset and does not document it digitally today will have to explain it in three years’ time just as someone who didn’t have a smartphone in 2010 would.
vountain shows how it can be done differently.
