The Team Fortress 2 Hat Market Crash, famously dubbed the 'Crate Depression,' took place on July 25, 2019, after a code update accidentally gave certain older crates a 100% drop rate for Unusual quality hats. As word spread, the Steam Community Market was flooded with rare items, causing prices to plummet and the virtual economy to spiral into chaos. The meme culture surrounding this event captures the frantic energy of players buying up bugged crates and the collective panic of high-tier traders watching their inventories lose value overnight. Today, these memes serve as a nostalgic reminder of the day 'god-tier' items became common trash and how Valve eventually stepped in to tradelock the glitched hats.