Good morning & happy Thursday! Today's issue is the best one yet as we're going to dive deep into all things digital banking. We're thus looking at German digital challenger bank N26 which just achieved its first-ever profitable quarter (why it matters + what's next for N26), JPMorgan UK that just made a strategic move into credit cards (what it tells us & what we can expect next + bonus deep dives into JPM's latest financials & more bonus reads inside), and Goldman Sachs that's to spin out its digital assets platform (what it means & why it matters + bonus deep dive into Goldman's latest financials & latest numbers on all things digital assets). So let's just jump straight into the good stuff '' The news '' German digital bank N26 has marked a significant turnaround in its operations, reporting its first-ever quarterly profit in Q3 2024 following the lifting of regulatory restrictions that had previously limited its growth....

Nearly every weekday morning, a device leaves a two-story home near Wiesbaden, Germany, and makes a 15-minute commute along a major autobahn. By around 7 am, it arrives at Lucius D. Clay Kaserne'the US Army's European headquarters and a key hub for US intelligence operations. The device stops near a restaurant before heading to an office near the base that belongs to a major government contractor responsible for outfitting and securing some of the nation's most sensitive facilities. For roughly two months in 2023, this device followed a predictable routine: stops at the contractor's office, visits to a discreet hangar on base, and lunchtime trips to the base's dining facility. Twice in November of last year, it made a 30-minute drive to the Dagger Complex, a former intelligence and NSA signals processing facility. On weekends, the device could be traced to restaurants and shops in Wiesbaden. The individual carrying this device likely isn't a spy or high-ranking intelligence official. Instead, experts believe, they're a contractor who works on critical systems'HVAC, computing infrastructure, or possibly securing the newly built Consolidated Intelligence Center, a state-of-the-art facility suspected to be used by the National Security Agency....

So-called 'regenerative' farming, which is said to be less harmful to soils and biodiversity than conventional farming, offers an opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and alleviate the climate crisis. It also maintain the yields we have from modern farm methods. Global food production generates at least a quarter of climate-heating greenhouse gas emissions, and more than 80% comes from agriculture. Berlin-based agri-tech startup Klim is working to get farms to switch to regenerative farming more easily. It's now secured a $22 million Series A funding round led by Europe's largest bank BNP Paribas. In 2022 it closed a $6.6 million seed raise, led by Berlin-based food and green tech investor, Green Generation Fund. Klim was founded in 2020 in Berlin by Robert Gerlach, Nina Mannheimer, and Adiv Maimon. Farmers use the Klim platform to track the progress of their transition and prove it to supply chain partners, enabling them to earn revenue payouts for sequestered carbon. Klim then takes a commission on the sale of carbon 'insets' linked to supply chains. Farmers can then generate revenue from these by selling them on Klim's marketplace. In turn, food companies can buy these 'ecosystem services' to make their supply chains greener, especially as emissions reporting requirements increase. In other words, a farmer gets paid for 'farming carbon' as much as raising and selling crops or cattle....

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has sacked his finance minister Christian Lindner escalating a long conflict in the German government and ultimately causing the fragile coalition between Social Democrats, Greens, and the Free Democratic Party to collapse. For once, Scholz, often mocked as a robotic speaker without emotion, appeared to be angry ' even resentful. In a speech, Scholz blamed Lindner for the government's collapse, and portrayed his former finance minister as petty, uncompromising and untrustworthy. Linder's response was swift and equally bitter. He accused the chancellor of a lack of ambition and poor leadership. The vice-chancellor and economy minister, Robert Habeck, admitted that ministers had been consistently arguing since 2021. But he added that he felt that the government collapse was avoidable and unnecessary. Habeck is expected to run for chancellor, though he and his Green party are in the most difficult position of all coalition parties. They are in deep crisis, and the polls show that. In a recent poll, the Greens received the lowest popularity score since 2017....