What was the 1720 British bubble and crash involving the South Sea Company called?

The 1720 British bubble and crash involving the South Sea Company was called the South Sea Bubble.

The South Sea Company received a government-backed monopoly over trade with Spanish South America, although its actual commercial prospects were limited. In 1720, Parliament approved a plan for the company to convert part of the national debt into shares. The arrangement encouraged intense speculation, and the share price rose dramatically before collapsing later that year.

The bubble drew in aristocrats, merchants, and smaller investors. When confidence failed, many shareholders suffered severe losses, and the episode led to political scandal and investigations. Isaac Newton famously held South Sea shares and lost money after re-entering the market.

The South Sea Bubble is sometimes confused with the Mississippi Bubble, which occurred in France during the same year under John Law. Both were major 1720 financial bubbles, but they involved different companies and countries.