Ripple price analysis: XRP/USD bulls hit pause button, short-term upside capped by $0.60

XRP jumped to unbelievable $0.7663 on Friday, which led someone to believe that a sacred $1.00 handle is within reach. While the price has retraced to  $0.58 by the time of writing, the coin is still an unrivaled growth leader on a 7-day basis and an ultimate locomotive for the bullish fever on the cryptocurrency market. Currently, XRP/USD has gained 1.5% since the beginning of Monday, though it is somewhat 0.38% lower on a day-to-day basis. 

XRP stays on the third place with a market value of $23.02B, while average daily trading volumes are registered at $900M, more than four times lower from Friday's $4B, substantially higher a longer-term average figure.

While FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is still considered the primary driver behind the latest XRP's rise, the coin may continue creeping higher - now at much lower speed - providing that now bad news hit the market. Let's not forget that the recent explosive growth was triggered by the speculations about the xRapid commercial application. Unlike xCurrent, this Ripple's solution requires the use of cryptocurrency, which means that its commercial operation will take us much closer to crypto mass adoption. If this information proves to be incorrect, the coin will drop like a stone.

XRP's technical picture

On the intraday level. XRP/USD is sitting in a range limited by $0.60 on the upside and $0.5445 on the downside. While the nearest support is created by SMA50 (1-hour chart), a sustainable movement below the lower line of the above-said channel will signal that the correction may be more pronounced. The ultimate short-term support lies at $0.50, strengthened by SMA200 (1-hour) and followed by Saturday's low at $0.4938.

On the upside, once $0.60 is conquered, the momentum may gain traction and take the price towards $0.6115 (Saturday's high) and $0.6500 guarded by 23.6% Fibo retracement weekly.

XRP/USD, 1-hour chart