Ripple price analysis: XRP/USD bulls hit a pause button; the next stop is $0.40

XRP/USD is changing hands at $0.3658 after a short-lived spike to $0.3837 during early Asian hours. Ripple's coin has gained over 9% in the recent 24 hours and nearly 3% since the beginning of Wednesday trading. The second largest coin with a market value of $14.7B has been moving in sync with global cryptocurrency market, enjoying a significant improvement of investor sentiments.

XRP/USD has gained over 28% since the beginning of the week and got a chance to end the longest streak of weekly losses. 

Ripple's technical picture

On the 4-hour chart, XRP/USD stopped short of SMA200 (currently registered at $0.3844). Obviously, this technical barrier is going to limit the upside for the time being. Once it is cleared, Ripple bulls will get a green light to move towards $0.40, which is considered to be a pivotal handle from the longer-term point of view. 

On the downside, the local support is created by Asian low at $0.3515; however, the overall setup will remain bullish as long as the price stays above SMA100 (4-hour) at $0.33. A sustainable move lower will unlock a new wave of sell orders and push XRP towards $0.3200 and critical $0.30 strengthened by SMA50 (4-hour).

The Relative Strength Index stays flat in the overbought zone, which means that the price may enter a consolidation phase before the upside is resumed. 

XRP/USD, 4-hour chart