The 2010 market event that briefly erased about $1 trillion in U.S. equity value was the Flash Crash.
On May 6, 2010, U.S. equity indexes plunged within minutes before recovering much of the loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 1,000 points, then rebounded rapidly, producing extraordinary price movements in individual shares and exchange-traded products.
Investigations identified a large automated sell order and the interaction of algorithmic trading, liquidity conditions and high-frequency trading as important factors. A later U.S. Justice Department case attributed the initiating order to trader Navinder Singh Sarao, though the broader event involved a complex market system.
The episode differs from a conventional prolonged crash. Its defining feature was the speed of the fall and partial recovery. Regulators later introduced or strengthened mechanisms such as market-wide circuit breakers and single-stock trading pauses.