Historical context · research & practice
Market History Lab
Filter, search, and study major market events — historic crashes, currency shocks, and crypto collapses. Each event has a plain-English story, a timeline, risk lessons, credible sources, and a practice hook. Educational only; no advice or signals.
18 market events
- March 2023historic
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) Collapse 2023
BankingMacroStocksBank runLiquidity crisisA two-day digital bank run drained $42 billion from Silicon Valley Bank and forced regulators to seize it — the largest US bank failure since 2008 and a lesson in how fast deposits flee in the smartphone era.
Key lesson: Liquidity and solvency are not the same thing. SVB's assets may have been worth enough over time, but it could not turn them into cash fast enough to meet withdrawals — and that gap is what kills institutions and accounts alike.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Bank Run#Systemic Risk#Liquidity#Flight to Safety5 sourcesRead the event → - November 2022historic
The FTX Collapse
CryptoBankingMacroBank runFraudOne of the world's largest crypto exchanges went from $32bn to bankrupt in a week — the case for self-custody.
Key lesson: Counterparty and custody risk is real risk. An asset you cannot withdraw on demand is a claim against a company, not a holding. 'Not your keys, not your coins' is about who actually controls the asset, not slogans.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Exchange & Custody Risk#Withdrawal Policy#Broker#Stablecoin4 sourcesRead the event → - May 2022historic
The Terra/LUNA Collapse
CryptoDepegBank runA ~$40bn "algorithmic stablecoin" ecosystem went to near-zero in days — crypto's textbook death spiral.
Key lesson: A high advertised yield is a signal of hidden risk, not a free reward. If a return is far above safe alternatives and you cannot clearly explain where the money comes from, assume you are being paid to carry risk you have not measured yet.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Stablecoin#Liquidation#Funding Rate#Exchange & Custody Risk5 sourcesRead the event → - March 2021high
Archegos Capital Collapse 2021
StocksBankingProp riskLeverage unwindContagionA single hidden, hyper-leveraged family office defaulted on its margin calls and triggered a forced fire-sale that cost global banks more than $10 billion in days.
Key lesson: Leverage you cannot see is still leverage. The fact that a position is hidden behind swaps or spread across counterparties does not make it safer — it just delays discovery.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Leverage#Margin#Margin Level#Broker Risk4 sourcesRead the event → - January 2021high
The GameStop Short Squeeze
StocksProp riskVolatility spikeLiquidity crisisA retail crowd squeezed heavily-shorted GameStop up ~20x, forcing funds to cover and some brokers to restrict buying.
Key lesson: Crowded trades cut both ways. Extreme short interest is fuel for an upside squeeze, but the same crowding makes the eventual unwind just as violent on the way down — being early and being late are very different trades.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Liquidation#Broker#Open Interest#Liquidity3 sourcesRead the event → - April 20, 2020high
Negative Oil Prices
CommoditiesMacroProp riskCrashLiquidity crisisA WTI crude futures contract closed at minus $37 — the day "the price can't go below zero" was proven wrong.
Key lesson: Know what your contract actually obligates. A WTI future is a claim on physical barrels with a delivery date — if you hold an expiring contract you cannot settle, you are exposed to the cost of taking delivery, not just the price chart.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Spot vs Futures#Liquidation#Margin Call#Risk Management4 sourcesRead the event → - March 2020historic
The COVID-19 Crash
StocksMacroCommoditiesCrashVolatility spikeThe fastest 30%+ equity drop in history as the pandemic hit — followed by one of the fastest recoveries.
Key lesson: Volatility is symmetric. The mechanism that crashed the market 34% in 33 days is the same mechanism that ripped it back up. Size your position for how fast price can move against AND for you, not just for your forecast.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Drawdown#Risk Management#Expectancy#Overtrading4 sourcesRead the event → - June 24, 2016high
The Brexit Referendum
ForexStocksMacroCurrency shockVolatility spikeThe pound fell ~10% overnight on the UK's vote to leave the EU — a lesson in event risk and overnight gaps.
Key lesson: A known event with an unknown reaction is its own risk class. The danger is not predicting the outcome — it is that the move can be far larger and faster than recent volatility suggests, so size and risk must be set for the gap, not for a normal day.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Spread#News-Trading Restriction#Slippage#Currency Pair4 sourcesRead the event → - January 15, 2015historic
The Swiss Franc Shock (SNB De-Peg)
ForexProp riskMacroCurrency shockVolatility spikeThe Swiss National Bank scrapped its EUR/CHF floor without warning; the franc jumped ~30% in minutes and blew up brokers and traders.
Key lesson: A stop-loss is a request to exit at the next available price, not a guarantee of your level. In a gap, the next available price can be far away — or nonexistent for a moment — so your real risk is the gap, not the distance to your stop.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Leverage#Margin Call#Slippage#Stop Loss4 sourcesRead the event → - 2010–2012historic
Eurozone Debt Crisis (2010–2012)
MacroForexBankingContagionLiquidity crisisA multi-year sovereign-debt crisis that began in Greece and spread across the euro area's periphery, ending only when the ECB promised to do "whatever it takes" to hold the single currency together.
Key lesson: A shared currency without shared fiscal backing means one member's problem can become everyone's problem — that is systemic risk in action.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Systemic Risk#Financial Contagion#Flight to Safety#Liquidity5 sourcesRead the event → - May 6, 2010high
The 2010 Flash Crash
StocksMacroProp riskCrashLiquidity crisisUS stocks fell ~9% and rebounded within minutes as automated liquidity vanished — a warning about market microstructure.
Key lesson: Liquidity is a condition, not a constant. The depth you see in the order book can evaporate in seconds, and the price you get is set by whoever is still willing to trade — which can be no one.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Liquidity#Slippage#Bid & Ask#Stop Loss5 sourcesRead the event → - September 2008historic
The 2008 Global Financial Crisis
StocksBankingMacroCrashLiquidity crisisThe collapse of Lehman Brothers froze global credit and crashed markets worldwide — a lesson in hidden leverage and counterparty risk.
Key lesson: In a real crisis correlations converge toward one — stocks, credit and even 'safe' assets can fall together, so diversification alone is not a risk plan.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Leverage#Liquidity#Broker#Drawdown5 sourcesRead the event → - March 2000historic
The Dot-Com Crash
StocksMacroCrashVolatility spikeA two-year collapse in internet stocks after a euphoric bubble — a lesson in valuation, narrative, and "this time is different".
Key lesson: Valuation is risk. A company priced on a story instead of cash flow has no floor when the story changes — the discount you pay above fundamentals is the loss you wear first.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Market Capitalization#Expectancy#FOMO#Risk Management4 sourcesRead the event → - September 1998historic
Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) Collapse 1998
MacroBankingProp riskLiquidity crisisLeverage unwindA hedge fund run by Nobel laureates and star traders blew up in weeks when its highly leveraged "sure thing" bets all moved against it at once — forcing a Fed-organized rescue.
Key lesson: Leverage is a magnifier, not an edge. The same borrowing that made LTCM's tiny spreads profitable also guaranteed that a normal-looking move would be fatal.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Leverage#Liquidity#Systemic Risk#Overfitting4 sourcesRead the event → - July 1997historic
The Asian Financial Crisis 1997
ForexMacroBankingCurrency shockContagionA broken Thai currency peg in July 1997 set off a wave of devaluations and capital flight that spread across East and Southeast Asia — the textbook case of financial contagion.
Key lesson: A currency peg is a promise, and promises break when defending them costs more than abandoning them. Treat any 'fixed' level as conditional, not permanent.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Currency Peg#Financial Contagion#Systemic Risk#Flight to Safety4 sourcesRead the event → - September 16, 1992historic
Black Wednesday — The Pound Breaks the ERM
ForexMacroBankingCurrency shockDepegSpeculators forced the British pound out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in a single day — the classic FX "break the peg" story.
Key lesson: A peg or 'guaranteed' level is only a price the defender can afford to defend. When the cost of holding a line (reserves, rate pain, political tolerance) exceeds the benefit, the line moves — pegs, support, and round numbers all eventually get tested.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Currency Pair#Liquidity#Carry Trade#News-Trading Restriction4 sourcesRead the event → - October 19, 1987historic
Black Monday 1987
StocksMacroProp riskCrashVolatility spikeThe Dow fell 22.6% in a single day — the largest one-day percentage drop in history. The birth of circuit breakers.
Key lesson: Crowded exits are dangerous: when many participants hold the same rule or the same stop at the same level, the door out gets jammed and liquidity disappears exactly when you need it most.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Liquidity#Stop Loss#Stop Hunt (Liquidity Hunt)#Slippage4 sourcesRead the event → - October 1929historic
The Wall Street Crash of 1929
StocksBankingMacroCrashLeverage unwindThe crash that ended the Roaring Twenties and ushered in the Great Depression — the textbook case of leverage and euphoria unwinding.
Key lesson: Leverage sets your survival, not your upside. At 10-to-1, a 10 percent move against you can erase the position; size for the drawdown you can sit through, not the profit you imagine.
◵ Practice the pattern · Practice framework#Leverage#Margin#Margin Call#Drawdown4 sourcesRead the event →
This page is educational only and is not financial advice or a signal. Past performance is not indicative of future results.