diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ee763457c6..364cdb699b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@ The individual libraries are developed to be agnostic about the utilized [Distri
 
 ## Prerequisites
 
-- [Rust](https://www.rust-lang.org/) (>= 1.51)
-- [Cargo](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/) (>= 1.51)
+- [Rust](https://www.rust-lang.org/) (>= 1.56.1)
+- [Cargo](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/) (>= 1.56.0)
 
 ## Getting Started
 
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ cargo doc --document-private-items --no-deps --open
 [package]
 name = "iota_identity_example"
 version = "1.0.0"
-edition = "2018"
+edition = "2021"
 
 [dependencies]
 identity = { git = "https://github.com/iotaledger/identity.rs", branch = "main", features = ["account"]}
diff --git a/bindings/wasm/Cargo.toml b/bindings/wasm/Cargo.toml
index be01af5e4c..15bb0ab2c0 100644
--- a/bindings/wasm/Cargo.toml
+++ b/bindings/wasm/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name = "identity-wasm"
 version = "0.4.0"
 authors = ["IOTA Stiftung"]
-edition = "2018"
+edition = "2021"
 homepage = "https://www.iota.org"
 keywords = ["iota", "tangle", "identity", "wasm"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/examples/Cargo.toml b/examples/Cargo.toml
index 852dc8c36e..0e83a189a4 100644
--- a/examples/Cargo.toml
+++ b/examples/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [package]
 name = "examples"
 version = "0.1.0"
-edition = "2018"
+edition = "2021"
 publish = false
 
 [dependencies]
diff --git a/identity-account/Cargo.toml b/identity-account/Cargo.toml
index b9fc8bc0b4..7b28c3c4a4 100644
--- a/identity-account/Cargo.toml
+++ b/identity-account/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name = "identity-account"
 version = "0.4.0"
 authors = ["IOTA Stiftung"]
-edition = "2018"
+edition = "2021"
 homepage = "https://www.iota.org"
 keywords = ["iota", "tangle", "identity"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/identity-comm/Cargo.toml b/identity-comm/Cargo.toml
index cee221835b..e995927f95 100644
--- a/identity-comm/Cargo.toml
+++ b/identity-comm/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name = "identity-comm"
 version = "0.4.0"
 authors = ["IOTA Stiftung"]
-edition = "2018"
+edition = "2021"
 homepage = "https://www.iota.org"
 keywords = ["iota", "tangle", "identity"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/identity-core/Cargo.toml b/identity-core/Cargo.toml
index 3e15d9a1ae..0b0cf4b8eb 100644
--- a/identity-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/identity-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name = "identity-core"
 version = "0.4.0"
 authors = ["IOTA Stiftung"]
-edition = "2018"
+edition = "2021"
 homepage = "https://www.iota.org"
 keywords = ["iota", "tangle", "identity"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/identity-credential/Cargo.toml b/identity-credential/Cargo.toml
index 0c8e3503e8..b68a7a748b 100644
--- a/identity-credential/Cargo.toml
+++ b/identity-credential/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name = "identity-credential"
 version = "0.4.0"
 authors = ["IOTA Stiftung"]
-edition = "2018"
+edition = "2021"
 homepage = "https://www.iota.org"
 keywords = ["iota", "tangle", "identity"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/identity-did/Cargo.toml b/identity-did/Cargo.toml
index dfa5a377fd..bb138f5921 100644
--- a/identity-did/Cargo.toml
+++ b/identity-did/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name = "identity-did"
 version = "0.4.0"
 authors = ["IOTA Stiftung"]
-edition = "2018"
+edition = "2021"
 homepage = "https://www.iota.org"
 keywords = ["iota", "tangle", "identity"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/identity-diff/Cargo.toml b/identity-diff/Cargo.toml
index 77f6f8e242..d222e7c962 100644
--- a/identity-diff/Cargo.toml
+++ b/identity-diff/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name = "identity-diff"
 version = "0.4.0"
 authors = ["IOTA Stiftung"]
-edition = "2018"
+edition = "2021"
 homepage = "https://www.iota.org"
 keywords = ["iota", "tangle", "identity"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/identity-iota/Cargo.toml b/identity-iota/Cargo.toml
index d3942b6338..71efcee510 100644
--- a/identity-iota/Cargo.toml
+++ b/identity-iota/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name = "identity-iota"
 version = "0.4.0"
 authors = ["IOTA Stiftung"]
-edition = "2018"
+edition = "2021"
 homepage = "https://www.iota.org"
 keywords = ["iota", "tangle", "identity"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/identity/Cargo.toml b/identity/Cargo.toml
index 1f37635056..1c8b77b5ae 100644
--- a/identity/Cargo.toml
+++ b/identity/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ name = "identity"
 version = "0.4.0"
 authors = ["IOTA Stiftung"]
 documentation = "https://wiki.iota.org/identity.rs/introduction"
-edition = "2018"
+edition = "2021"
 homepage = "https://www.iota.org"
 keywords = ["iota", "tangle", "identity", "did"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"
diff --git a/libjose/Cargo.toml b/libjose/Cargo.toml
index eeb99477b5..c9f98eba65 100644
--- a/libjose/Cargo.toml
+++ b/libjose/Cargo.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name = "libjose"
 version = "0.1.0"
 authors = ["IOTA Stiftung"]
-edition = "2018"
+edition = "2021"
 homepage = "https://www.iota.org"
 keywords = ["iota", "tangle", "identity", "jose", "jwa", "jwe", "jwk", "jwm", "jws", "jwt"]
 license = "Apache-2.0"