diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3338de23b..0bb0c1b60 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -340,7 +340,9 @@ corresponding [documentation](/docs/migration/Version_0.0.x_0.1.x.md).
 
 ## [0.0.1] - 2022-05-13
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/eclipse-tractusx/tractusx-edc/compare/0.4.1...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/eclipse-tractusx/tractusx-edc/compare/0.5.0-rc1...HEAD
+
+[0.5.0-rc1]: https://github.com/eclipse-tractusx/tractusx-edc/compare/0.4.1...0.5.0-rc1
 
 [0.4.1]: https://github.com/eclipse-tractusx/tractusx-edc/compare/0.3.3...0.4.1
 
diff --git a/charts/tractusx-connector-azure-vault/Chart.yaml b/charts/tractusx-connector-azure-vault/Chart.yaml
index ca0ecaa02..78c8f0823 100644
--- a/charts/tractusx-connector-azure-vault/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/tractusx-connector-azure-vault/Chart.yaml
@@ -40,12 +40,12 @@ type: application
 # This is the chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
 # to the chart and its templates, including the app version.
 # Versions are expected to follow Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/)
-version: 0.4.1
+version: 0.5.0-rc1
 # This is the version number of the application being deployed. This version number should be
 # incremented each time you make changes to the application. Versions are not expected to
 # follow Semantic Versioning. They should reflect the version the application is using.
 # It is recommended to use it with quotes.
-appVersion: "0.4.1"
+appVersion: "0.5.0-rc1"
 home: https://github.com/eclipse-tractusx/tractusx-edc/tree/main/charts/tractusx-connector
 sources:
   - https://github.com/eclipse-tractusx/tractusx-edc/tree/main/charts/tractusx-connector
diff --git a/charts/tractusx-connector-azure-vault/README.md b/charts/tractusx-connector-azure-vault/README.md
index 22fd29a2a..cc0d46135 100644
--- a/charts/tractusx-connector-azure-vault/README.md
+++ b/charts/tractusx-connector-azure-vault/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # tractusx-connector-azure-vault
 
-![Version: 0.4.1](https://img.shields.io/badge/Version-0.4.1-informational?style=flat-square) ![Type: application](https://img.shields.io/badge/Type-application-informational?style=flat-square) ![AppVersion: 0.4.1](https://img.shields.io/badge/AppVersion-0.4.1-informational?style=flat-square)
+![Version: 0.5.0-rc1](https://img.shields.io/badge/Version-0.5.0--rc1-informational?style=flat-square) ![Type: application](https://img.shields.io/badge/Type-application-informational?style=flat-square) ![AppVersion: 0.5.0-rc1](https://img.shields.io/badge/AppVersion-0.5.0--rc1-informational?style=flat-square)
 
 A Helm chart for Tractus-X Eclipse Data Space Connector. The connector deployment consists of two runtime consists of a
 Control Plane and a Data Plane. Note that _no_ external dependencies such as a PostgreSQL database and Azure KeyVault are included.
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Combined, run this shell command to start the in-memory Tractus-X EDC runtime:
 
 ```shell
 helm repo add tractusx-edc https://eclipse-tractusx.github.io/charts/dev
-helm install my-release tractusx-edc/tractusx-connector-azure-vault --version 0.4.1 \
+helm install my-release tractusx-edc/tractusx-connector-azure-vault --version 0.5.0-rc1 \
      -f <path-to>/tractusx-connector-azure-vault-test.yaml \
      --set vault.azure.name=$AZURE_VAULT_NAME \
      --set vault.azure.client=$AZURE_CLIENT_ID \
diff --git a/charts/tractusx-connector-legacy/Chart.yaml b/charts/tractusx-connector-legacy/Chart.yaml
index 17be6d601..37a0aca86 100644
--- a/charts/tractusx-connector-legacy/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/tractusx-connector-legacy/Chart.yaml
@@ -45,12 +45,12 @@ type: application
 # This is the chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
 # to the chart and its templates, including the app version.
 # Versions are expected to follow Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/)
-version: 0.4.1
+version: 0.5.0-rc1
 # This is the version number of the application being deployed. This version number should be
 # incremented each time you make changes to the application. Versions are not expected to
 # follow Semantic Versioning. They should reflect the version the application is using.
 # It is recommended to use it with quotes.
-appVersion: "0.4.1"
+appVersion: "0.5.0-rc1"
 home: https://github.com/eclipse-tractusx/tractusx-edc/tree/main/charts/tractusx-connector-legacy
 sources:
   - https://github.com/eclipse-tractusx/tractusx-edc/tree/main/charts/tractusx-connector-legacy
diff --git a/charts/tractusx-connector-legacy/README.md b/charts/tractusx-connector-legacy/README.md
index e96ca60ea..65abb2723 100644
--- a/charts/tractusx-connector-legacy/README.md
+++ b/charts/tractusx-connector-legacy/README.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 > **:exclamation: This Helm Chart is deprecated!**
 
-![Version: 0.4.1](https://img.shields.io/badge/Version-0.4.1-informational?style=flat-square) ![Type: application](https://img.shields.io/badge/Type-application-informational?style=flat-square) ![AppVersion: 0.4.1](https://img.shields.io/badge/AppVersion-0.4.1-informational?style=flat-square)
+![Version: 0.5.0-rc1](https://img.shields.io/badge/Version-0.5.0--rc1-informational?style=flat-square) ![Type: application](https://img.shields.io/badge/Type-application-informational?style=flat-square) ![AppVersion: 0.5.0-rc1](https://img.shields.io/badge/AppVersion-0.5.0--rc1-informational?style=flat-square)
 
 A Helm chart for Tractus-X Eclipse Data Space Connector. The connector deployment consists of two runtime consists of a
 Control Plane and a Data Plane. Note that _no_ external dependencies such as a PostgreSQL database and HashiCorp Vault are included.
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ Combined, run this shell command to start the in-memory Tractus-X EDC runtime:
 
 ```shell
 helm repo add tractusx-edc https://eclipse-tractusx.github.io/charts/dev
-helm install my-release tractusx-edc/tractusx-connector --version 0.4.1 \
+helm install my-release tractusx-edc/tractusx-connector --version 0.5.0-rc1 \
      -f <path-to>/tractusx-connector-test.yaml
 ```
 
diff --git a/charts/tractusx-connector-memory/Chart.yaml b/charts/tractusx-connector-memory/Chart.yaml
index 3e88b708d..22384dd79 100644
--- a/charts/tractusx-connector-memory/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/tractusx-connector-memory/Chart.yaml
@@ -34,12 +34,12 @@ type: application
 # This is the chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
 # to the chart and its templates, including the app version.
 # Versions are expected to follow Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/)
-version: 0.4.1
+version: 0.5.0-rc1
 # This is the version number of the application being deployed. This version number should be
 # incremented each time you make changes to the application. Versions are not expected to
 # follow Semantic Versioning. They should reflect the version the application is using.
 # It is recommended to use it with quotes.
-appVersion: "0.4.1"
+appVersion: "0.5.0-rc1"
 home: https://github.com/eclipse-tractusx/tractusx-edc/tree/main/charts/tractusx-connector-memory
 sources:
   - https://github.com/eclipse-tractusx/tractusx-edc/tree/main/charts/tractusx-connector-memory
diff --git a/charts/tractusx-connector-memory/README.md b/charts/tractusx-connector-memory/README.md
index 2b0a76966..f49f98b6f 100644
--- a/charts/tractusx-connector-memory/README.md
+++ b/charts/tractusx-connector-memory/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # tractusx-connector-memory
 
-![Version: 0.4.1](https://img.shields.io/badge/Version-0.4.1-informational?style=flat-square) ![Type: application](https://img.shields.io/badge/Type-application-informational?style=flat-square) ![AppVersion: 0.4.1](https://img.shields.io/badge/AppVersion-0.4.1-informational?style=flat-square)
+![Version: 0.5.0-rc1](https://img.shields.io/badge/Version-0.5.0--rc1-informational?style=flat-square) ![Type: application](https://img.shields.io/badge/Type-application-informational?style=flat-square) ![AppVersion: 0.5.0-rc1](https://img.shields.io/badge/AppVersion-0.5.0--rc1-informational?style=flat-square)
 
 A Helm chart for Tractus-X Eclipse Data Space Connector based on memory. Please only use this for development or testing purposes, never in production workloads!
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ Combined, run this shell command to start the in-memory Tractus-X EDC runtime:
 
 ```shell
 helm repo add tractusx-edc https://eclipse-tractusx.github.io/charts/dev
-helm install my-release tractusx-edc/tractusx-connector-memory --version 0.4.1 \
+helm install my-release tractusx-edc/tractusx-connector-memory --version 0.5.0-rc1 \
      -f <path-to>/tractusx-connector-memory-test.yaml \
      --set vault.secrets="daps-cert:$DAPS_CERT;daps-key:$DAPS_KEY" \
 ```
diff --git a/charts/tractusx-connector/Chart.yaml b/charts/tractusx-connector/Chart.yaml
index 1d8fb1ab1..a92e55e5b 100644
--- a/charts/tractusx-connector/Chart.yaml
+++ b/charts/tractusx-connector/Chart.yaml
@@ -40,12 +40,12 @@ type: application
 # This is the chart version. This version number should be incremented each time you make changes
 # to the chart and its templates, including the app version.
 # Versions are expected to follow Semantic Versioning (https://semver.org/)
-version: 0.4.1
+version: 0.5.0-rc1
 # This is the version number of the application being deployed. This version number should be
 # incremented each time you make changes to the application. Versions are not expected to
 # follow Semantic Versioning. They should reflect the version the application is using.
 # It is recommended to use it with quotes.
-appVersion: "0.4.1"
+appVersion: "0.5.0-rc1"
 home: https://github.com/eclipse-tractusx/tractusx-edc/tree/main/charts/tractusx-connector
 sources:
   - https://github.com/eclipse-tractusx/tractusx-edc/tree/main/charts/tractusx-connector
diff --git a/charts/tractusx-connector/README.md b/charts/tractusx-connector/README.md
index 35155261e..161996f33 100644
--- a/charts/tractusx-connector/README.md
+++ b/charts/tractusx-connector/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # tractusx-connector
 
-![Version: 0.4.1](https://img.shields.io/badge/Version-0.4.1-informational?style=flat-square) ![Type: application](https://img.shields.io/badge/Type-application-informational?style=flat-square) ![AppVersion: 0.4.1](https://img.shields.io/badge/AppVersion-0.4.1-informational?style=flat-square)
+![Version: 0.5.0-rc1](https://img.shields.io/badge/Version-0.5.0--rc1-informational?style=flat-square) ![Type: application](https://img.shields.io/badge/Type-application-informational?style=flat-square) ![AppVersion: 0.5.0-rc1](https://img.shields.io/badge/AppVersion-0.5.0--rc1-informational?style=flat-square)
 
 A Helm chart for Tractus-X Eclipse Data Space Connector. The connector deployment consists of two runtime consists of a
 Control Plane and a Data Plane. Note that _no_ external dependencies such as a PostgreSQL database and HashiCorp Vault are included.
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ Combined, run this shell command to start the in-memory Tractus-X EDC runtime:
 
 ```shell
 helm repo add tractusx-edc https://eclipse-tractusx.github.io/charts/dev
-helm install my-release tractusx-edc/tractusx-connector --version 0.4.1 \
+helm install my-release tractusx-edc/tractusx-connector --version 0.5.0-rc1 \
      -f <path-to>/tractusx-connector-test.yaml
 ```
 
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index bd546586e..269e092e4 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 group=org.eclipse.tractusx.edc
-version=0.4.2-SNAPSHOT
+version=0.5.0-SNAPSHOT
 # configure the build:
 annotationProcessorVersion=0.1.1
 edcGradlePluginsVersion=0.1.1