diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/3.0.0-a1.yml b/changelogs/fragments/3.0.0-a1.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b53c0cc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/3.0.0-a1.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+release_summary: |
+  First pre-release for community.crypto 3.0.0.
+  This release drops compatibility for ansible-core before 2.17, and for Python before 3.7.
diff --git a/galaxy.yml b/galaxy.yml
index 9b7f0866..a16d315e 100644
--- a/galaxy.yml
+++ b/galaxy.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 namespace: community
 name: crypto
-version: 3.0.0-dev0
+version: 3.0.0-a1
 readme: README.md
 authors:
   - Ansible (github.com/ansible)