diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index a0c1ce4ea..6ac24a5d0 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3168,7 +3168,7 @@ checksum = "2839e79665f131bdb5782e51f2c6c9599c133c6098982a54c794358bf432529c"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "openethereum"
-version = "2.8.0"
+version = "3.0.0-alpha.1"
 dependencies = [
  "ansi_term",
  "atty",
@@ -3617,7 +3617,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "parity-version"
-version = "2.8.0"
+version = "3.0.0-alpha.1"
 dependencies = [
  "parity-bytes",
  "rlp",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 258ab7ae3..0d0e01578 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 description = "OpenEthereum"
 name = "openethereum"
 # NOTE Make sure to update util/version/Cargo.toml as well
-version = "2.8.0"
+version = "3.0.0-alpha.1"
 license = "GPL-3.0"
 authors = [
 	"OpenEthereum developers",
diff --git a/util/version/Cargo.toml b/util/version/Cargo.toml
index b1e0472e4..d5230806f 100644
--- a/util/version/Cargo.toml
+++ b/util/version/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 [package]
 name = "parity-version"
 # NOTE: this value is used for the OpenEthereum version string (via env CARGO_PKG_VERSION)
-version = "2.8.0"
+version = "3.0.0-alpha.1"
 authors = ["Parity Technologies <admin@parity.io>"]
 build = "build.rs"