The Dot-com crash was the 2000–2002 stock-market collapse that followed the bursting of the internet-company investment bubble.
During the late 1990s, investors poured money into internet businesses, often valuing companies on website traffic or future potential rather than profits. The Nasdaq Composite, heavily weighted toward technology companies, reached 5,048.62 on March 10, 2000.
After investor confidence broke, technology shares fell sharply. The Nasdaq lost roughly 78% of its value from its March 2000 peak to its October 2002 low. Many internet startups failed, while established technology companies also experienced major losses.
The Dot-com bubble and Dot-com crash are related but not identical terms: the bubble describes the speculative rise, while the crash describes the subsequent collapse. The downturn also coincided with a U.S. recession in 2001, although the market decline began before the recession was formally dated.