diff --git a/lbry/__init__.py b/lbry/__init__.py
index 3f7d7a910..7819e27c4 100644
--- a/lbry/__init__.py
+++ b/lbry/__init__.py
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-__version__ = "0.96.0"
+__version__ = "0.97.0"
 version = tuple(map(int, __version__.split('.')))  # pylint: disable=invalid-name