Ripple Price Analysis: XRP teasing symmetrical triangle breakdown ahead of Spark airdrop

• XRP/USD sells the news after SPARK snapshot, ahead of the airdrop.
• The No. 3 coin teases a symmetrical triangle breakdown on the 4H chart.
• The path of least resistance appears to the downside.

Ripple (XRP/USD) bucks the positive trend seen across the crypto board, with ‘sell the news’ trading in play in the aftermath of Saturday’s SPARK snapshot.

The token wallows in the lower band of its recent tight trading range, as the bears fight back control in the lead up to the SPARK airdrop showdown. At the time of writing, XRP/USD sheds nearly 3.5% to trade around$ 0.5270, having recaptured the $0.50 level.

Flare Networks, a blockchain project that introduces smart contract functionality on the XRP ledger, took a snapshot of the network early Saturday and distributed SPARK tokens to all XRP holders on a one-to-one ratio. 

It’s worth noting that the number of XRP whales accumulated the XRP token and sent the holdings to a new all-time high.

XRP/USD technical outlook: Poised for a downside break?

XRP/USD: Four-hour chart

Ripple is primed to dive out from the recent consolidative phase, which has taken shape of a symmetrical triangle on the four-hour (4H) chart. A downside break appears in the offing as depicted by the technical set up on the said timeframe.

XRP sellers need a four-hourly closing below the rising trendline support at $0.5135 to validate the triangle breakdown, with the immediate cushion seen at the bullish 200-simple moving average (SMA) at $0.4690.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) inches lower towards the oversold territory, currently at 37.28, suggesting more room southwards. The next critical support awaits at $0.30.

Alternatively, acceptance above the critical resistance at $0.5800 could open doors towards a retest of multi-year tops of $0.7843. Ahead of that, an immediate 100-SMA barrier at $.5908 could come into play.

XRP/USD: Additional levels to consider