STACKED No. 001 -- How Emily Dempsey Went From Bergdorf's to The Brickell Babes & Bitcoin & Our First Newsletter

Good morning STACKED BBs!

I can't believe we're here (!!!) STACKED has been in the works for over a year. One of those projects that lives in your notes app, your voice memos, your late-night "what am I actually doing" conversations — and today it's real. We dropped EP 001 of the STACKED podcast yesterday and now we are introducing our weekly newsletter filled with a round up of news we actually care about and details on our latest episode drop.

If you're here, you probably know me from The Brickell Babes. I founded BB four years ago when I moved to Miami at the start of a completely new chapter — new city, new career, and honestly just looking for friends and local businesses I could trust. What started as a Facebook post turned into a 70,000-woman community with 600K+ monthly impressions, built on zero paid ads and a lot of genuine connection. I never expected it to become what it did. And watching that community evolve — seeing the conversations shift from "what restaurant should I try?" to "how do I invest in Bitcoin?" and "how do I actually build wealth?" — told me something important. The women around me were hungry for more. So was I.

STACKED is the evolution of that curiosity. A few career changes — from buying fashion at Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, to a deep dive into digital assets, specifically Bitcoin — gave me a front-row seat to how money actually moves. And I realized the resource I needed didn't exist. So I built it.

Yesterday we dropped EP 001 of the STACKED podcast — my full origin story, how I got here, and why I believe everyone should understand Bitcoin, business, and what it means to become your own best asset. New episodes drop every Tuesday at 7 AM EST. This newsletter lands every Wednesday morning. Consider this your weekly signal in a world full of noise.

One more thing — and I'm genuinely proud of this one: The Brickell Babes received its USPTO trademark approval today. For any founder reading this, you know what that moment means. Your brand is yours. Protect it.

Let's get stacked!

—Emily

Market Snapshot — March 11, 2026

Bitcoin, markets, digital assets & macro — curated with your financial future in mind.

Bitcoin Holds $70K as Oil Shock Hammers Global Equities

Bitcoin briefly rallied to $74,000 before settling near $69,900 as a Middle East-driven oil shock sent crude surging 36% in a single week. While Asian equities and the S&P 500 fell sharply, Bitcoin showed unusual resilience — reinforcing its evolving role as a macro hedge in portfolios. (CoinDesk)

STACKED Take: When everything else sold off, Bitcoin didn't panic. That's the narrative shift institutions are watching.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs Absorb $1B+ in Weekly Inflows Despite Market Turmoil

Institutional buyers re-entered the market decisively this week, with spot Bitcoin ETFs recording over $1 billion in net inflows across multiple consecutive sessions. Holdings dropped only about 5% during the pullback — a sign that large allocators are treating BTC as a portfolio staple, not a trade. (Yahoo Finance)

STACKED Take: ETF flows don't lie. Smart money is accumulating while the Fear & Greed Index screams Extreme Fear.

U.S. Economy Loses 92,000 Jobs in February — Worst Print in Three Years

The February employment report was a major miss: the economy shed 92,000 jobs versus expectations for a 60,000 gain. Unemployment ticked up to 4.4%. The report complicates the Fed's path forward — inflation is still sticky, but the labor market is clearly cooling. (Al Jazeera)

STACKED Take: Bad news for Main Street. The Fed is stuck between a rock and a hard place — and oil prices just made it worse.

Oil Surges Above $100 as Middle East Conflict Escalates — Then Crashes 12% in a Day

Crude oil surged above $100 a barrel — up more than 50% from the start of the year — as Middle East conflict effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. WTI then crashed 11.9% on Tuesday after a false government claim about escorting a tanker through the strait was quickly retracted, settling near $84. Energy inflation is now the Fed's biggest wildcard heading into its March 17-18 meeting. (Reuters)

STACKED Take: Oil hit $100, crashed on a government misstatement, and is now hovering near $84. This is exactly the kind of volatility that exposes how thin the margin for error is right now.

SEC and CFTC Launch Joint 'Project Crypto' for Unified Digital Asset Oversight

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig announced that the CFTC will partner with the SEC on Project Crypto — a coordinated effort to bring coherence to federal oversight of crypto asset markets. (Bloomberg Law)

STACKED Take: This is what institutional-grade regulation looks like. Clear rules attract serious capital.

Bipartisan Crypto Market Structure Bill Expected to Become Law in 2026

Grayscale and multiple legal analysts expect the Genius Act — bipartisan crypto market structure legislation — to pass in 2026, enabling regulated trading of digital asset securities and on-chain issuance. (Grayscale Research)

STACKED Take: When the rules are clear, the capital flows. This bill is the infrastructure layer Wall Street has been waiting for.

Business, tech, deal flow & the conversations happening behind closed doors.

High-Yield Savings Accounts Still Pay Up to 5% — Here's Why That Matters

Even after Fed rate cuts, top high-yield savings accounts are offering up to 5.00% APY — more than 10 times the national average of 0.39%. (Fortune)

STACKED Take: Your cash should be working while it sits. If you're still earning 0.4% at a big bank, you're literally paying for the privilege of being lazy.

Automation Is the Wealth Hack Nobody Talks About

Conversational AI, embedded finance, and biometric security are becoming standard tools for personal finance in 2026. Smarter automation now plugs hidden leaks like late fees, unused subscriptions, and idle cash. (Fidelity)

STACKED Take: The best financial strategy is the one that runs while you sleep. Automate everything.

Geopolitical Tensions Could Push Mortgage Rates Near 7% in 2026

The Miami Association of Realtors warns that rising oil prices and Middle East tensions could push 30-year fixed mortgage rates back toward 7% by mid-2026. (Miami Realtors)

STACKED Take: Just when rates were starting to look friendly, geopolitics showed up. Lock in now if you're on the fence.

Miami Home Values Dip 3.1% — But Luxury and Multifamily Are a Different Story

The average Miami home value is $575,173, down 3.1% year over year. But the market is bifurcated: luxury product and lifestyle submarkets remain competitive, while condos see softer pricing. Miami leads the U.S. in multifamily construction with over 36,000 units underway. (Zillow)

STACKED Take: Miami isn't one market — it's several. Know which lane you're in before you make a move.

OpenAI Raises $110 Billion at $730B Valuation from Amazon, Nvidia, and SoftBank

OpenAI secured one of the largest private tech raises in history — $110 billion at a $730 billion valuation. The deal signals the scale of capital flowing into AI infrastructure. (TechCrunch)

STACKED Take: This isn't a startup raise — it's a geopolitical move. AI infrastructure is the new arms race.

Fintech Momentum Builds: Big Deals, IPO-Ready Companies, and More AI

Fintech investment is accelerating in 2026 with Argentine neobank Uala raising $195 million at a $3.2 billion valuation and Airwallex crossing $1 billion in AUM. (Crunchbase)

STACKED Take: The fintech wave isn't over — it's just getting smarter. AI is the new distribution layer for money.

Women-Led Startups Are Growing — But VC Funding Is Still Just 2.3%

Despite women founding 49% of new U.S. businesses in 2024, female-only teams received just 2.3% of total global VC dollars — roughly $6.7 billion out of $289 billion. (Comstock's Magazine)

STACKED Take: Half the businesses, 2% of the capital. The math doesn't add up — and that's a market inefficiency smart investors should be watching.

IWD 2026: 25 Women Reshaping Tech and Venture Capital

A new report highlights 25 women shaping the future of tech and VC as female-founded startups in Europe raised 7.5 billion euros in 2025 — a 19% increase year over year. (Tech Funding News)

STACKED Take: The capital is moving — slowly. European women founders are leading the charge in sectors that actually matter.

Your body is part of your investment portfolio. Invest in yourself.

Longevity Goes Mainstream: 60% of Americans Now Prioritize Healthy Aging

60% of Americans now cite longevity and healthy aging as their top motivator for fitness — a clear shift from aesthetics to function. (PureWow)

STACKED Take: Fitness is finally growing up. It's not about how you look — it's about how long you can perform at a high level.

Japanese Walking Is the Fastest-Growing Fitness Trend of 2026

Japanese walking — a low-impact movement practice rooted in mindfulness — saw a 2,986% surge in interest this year. The trend reflects a broader wellness shift toward sustainable, nervous-system-friendly movement. (Well+Good)

STACKED Take: The most powerful habits are the ones you'll actually do every day. Walking is underrated and the data proves it.

Neurowellness Is the New Frontier — and Women Are Leading the Charge

Neurowellness is emerging as a critical health focus: regulation, recovery, and resilience before breakdown. Consumer-friendly neurotech is making brain health as measurable as step counts. (Global Wellness Summit)

STACKED Take: Your nervous system is the operating system for everything else. If you're not investing in it, nothing else compounds.

Women's Healthspan Takes Center Stage in 2026 Longevity Research

The longevity conversation is pivoting hard toward women's healthspan — moving beyond managing menopause symptoms to addressing ovarian aging itself. (BeautyMatter)

STACKED Take: Longevity research is finally asking the right question: what does healthy aging look like for women specifically?

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The first episode of STACKED is my origin story. How I went from buying fashion at Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue to building South Florida's largest women's network to spending two years going deep on Bitcoin mining — and why she built the financial education resource she couldn't find anywhere else.

01 — Community Is Distribution

The Brickell Babes started as a Facebook post and became a 70,000-woman community generating 600K+ monthly impressions. Trust at scale converts — but only if you build it slowly and don't sell it out.

02 — Nobody Has a Degree in Bitcoin

Every operator, investor, and builder in this space is self-taught. The barrier to entry is curiosity, not credentials. Start today.

03 — Mining Is Where Money Meets Energy

Bitcoin mining is an energy and leverage business. Understanding mining is the fastest way to understand how the entire monetary network actually works.

04 — Wellness Is the Force Multiplier

You can build the business and the network, but if your nervous system can't hold it, it will never compound. Your body is part of your investment portfolio.

05 — Knowledge Compounds Without Limit

The more you understand money, markets, and the future of finance, the more options you have — full stop.

Listen to the Podcast

That's a wrap on the first-ever issue of STACKED. This is just the beginning. Every Tuesday we bring you the signal — so you can cut through the noise and become your own best asset. See you next week. — Emily

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