The 1792 U.S. financial crisis was the Panic of 1792, which led to the Buttonwood Agreement’s early importance in organized securities trading.
The crisis involved speculation in securities issued by the new United States government and in shares of the Bank of the United States. William Duer and other speculators borrowed heavily, and falling prices caused defaults that spread through financial markets in New York and Philadelphia.
Alexander Hamilton, the U.S. Treasury secretary, responded by arranging government purchases of securities and encouraging banks to extend credit. His actions helped restore confidence and are often regarded as an early example of central-bank-style market stabilization, even though the Federal Reserve did not yet exist.
The Buttonwood Agreement had been signed in New York in 1792 by brokers who agreed to trade with one another under specific terms. It is commonly treated as a foundation of the New York Stock Exchange, but it did not itself create the modern exchange overnight.