The 1637 Dutch financial bubble and collapse involving rare tulip bulbs was called tulip mania.
Tulip mania developed in the Dutch Republic during the 1630s, when contracts for certain tulip bulbs were traded at increasingly high prices. Rare varieties were especially prized, and some buyers speculated that they could resell contracts for a profit. Prices reached a peak in the winter of 1636–1637 before confidence weakened.
The market did not destroy the entire Dutch economy, and popular retellings often exaggerate both the number of participants and the scale of the damage. Many trades involved futures or forward contracts rather than bulbs changing hands immediately.
The episode remains a famous early example of speculative behavior. Historians continue to debate how severe the collapse was, but the name has become a common label for asset bubbles driven by expectations of further price increases.