diff --git a/Directory.Build.props b/Directory.Build.props
index 24b68fd0..56154491 100644
--- a/Directory.Build.props
+++ b/Directory.Build.props
@@ -2,17 +2,13 @@
   <PropertyGroup>
     <Copyright>Copyright © 2013-$([System.DateTime]::Now.Year) Akka.NET Team</Copyright>
     <Authors>Akka.NET Team</Authors>
-    <VersionPrefix>1.5.59</VersionPrefix>
-    <PackageReleaseNotes>**New Features**
-* [Add OpenTelemetry trace correlation support for LoggerFactoryLogger](https://github.com/akkadotnet/Akka.Hosting/issues/700) - enables proper trace correlation for logs emitted from actor code. When using Akka.NET 1.5.59+, `LogEvent.ActivityContext` captures trace context at log creation time and flows it through to OpenTelemetry `LogRecord`s via the new `AkkaTraceContextProcessor`.
+    <VersionPrefix>1.5.60-beta1</VersionPrefix>
+    <PackageReleaseNotes>**Beta Release**
 
-**Bug Fixes**
-* [Fix semantic logging not capturing named placeholders as structured properties](https://github.com/akkadotnet/Akka.Hosting/pull/702) - resolved [issue #701](https://github.com/akkadotnet/Akka.Hosting/issues/701) where named placeholders like `{Event}` in log messages were not captured as searchable structured properties. Made all `LoggerConfigBuilder` properties optional and refactored message formatting code.
-* [Fix TestKit startup timeout race condition](https://github.com/akkadotnet/Akka.Hosting/pull/705) - resolved race condition in `TestKit.InitializeAsync()` where `CancellationTokenSource.Register()` threw exceptions on the timer thread, causing unhandled exceptions that crashed the test host process. Also increased default startup timeout from 10s to 30s for CI environments.
+This is a beta release for testing the OpenTelemetry trace correlation feature that was merged after 1.5.59.
 
-**Updates**
-* [Bump Akka version from 1.5.58 to 1.5.59](https://github.com/akkadotnet/akka.net/releases/tag/1.5.59)
-* Added OpenTelemetry dependency (1.9.0+) for trace correlation support</PackageReleaseNotes>
+**New Features**
+* [Add OpenTelemetry trace correlation support for LoggerFactoryLogger](https://github.com/akkadotnet/Akka.Hosting/pull/706) - enables proper trace correlation for logs emitted from actor code. Solves the problem that `Activity.Current` doesn't flow across actor mailbox boundaries because it uses `AsyncLocal&lt;T&gt;`. When using Akka.NET 1.5.59+, `LogEvent.ActivityContext` captures trace context at log creation time and flows it through to OpenTelemetry `LogRecord`s via the new `AkkaTraceContextProcessor`. Register with `options.AddAkkaTraceCorrelation()` in your OpenTelemetry logging configuration.</PackageReleaseNotes>
     <PackageIcon>akkalogo.png</PackageIcon>
     <PackageProjectUrl>
       https://github.com/akkadotnet/Akka.Hosting
@@ -54,4 +50,4 @@
     <IncludeSymbols>true</IncludeSymbols>
     <SymbolPackageFormat>snupkg</SymbolPackageFormat>
   </PropertyGroup>
-</Project>
+</Project>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES.md b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
index 126d451e..e7159189 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+#### 1.5.60-beta1 January 29th 2026 ####
+
+**Beta Release**
+
+This is a beta release for testing the OpenTelemetry trace correlation feature that was merged after 1.5.59.
+
+**New Features**
+* [Add OpenTelemetry trace correlation support for LoggerFactoryLogger](https://github.com/akkadotnet/Akka.Hosting/pull/706) - enables proper trace correlation for logs emitted from actor code. Solves the problem that `Activity.Current` doesn't flow across actor mailbox boundaries because it uses `AsyncLocal<T>`. When using Akka.NET 1.5.59+, `LogEvent.ActivityContext` captures trace context at log creation time and flows it through to OpenTelemetry `LogRecord`s via the new `AkkaTraceContextProcessor`. Register with `options.AddAkkaTraceCorrelation()` in your OpenTelemetry logging configuration.
+
 #### 1.5.59 January 2026 ####
 
 **New Features**