diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index f1ec7e2..0ba7ca0 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
     <groupId>berlin.yuna</groupId>
     <artifactId>nats-server</artifactId>
-    <version>2.10.20</version>
+    <version>2.10.21-rc.1</version>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
     <name>nats-server</name>
diff --git a/version.txt b/version.txt
index 836d652..6eca744 100644
--- a/version.txt
+++ b/version.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.10.20
+2.10.21-rc.1