diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index d8c5e721a..bd8bf882d 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.6.8
+1.7.0
diff --git a/params/version.go b/params/version.go
index 3dac93d89..089666260 100644
--- a/params/version.go
+++ b/params/version.go
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	VersionMajor = 1          // Major version component of the current release
-	VersionMinor = 6          // Minor version component of the current release
-	VersionPatch = 8          // Patch version component of the current release
+	VersionMinor = 7          // Minor version component of the current release
+	VersionPatch = 0          // Patch version component of the current release
 	VersionMeta  = "unstable" // Version metadata to append to the version string
 )