diff --git a/.changelog/unreleased/miscellaneous/4117-split-release.md b/.changelog/unreleased/miscellaneous/4117-split-release.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..320b7c29ff6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/unreleased/miscellaneous/4117-split-release.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+- Starting from the next release the Namada binary apps (`namada`, `namadan`,
+  `namadac` and `namadaw`) will be versioned separately from the libaries
+  (everything else including the wasm). The libraries releases will have their
+  tag prefixed with "lib-" and will continue with the current versioning scheme.
+  ([\#4117](https://github.com/anoma/namada/pull/4117))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crates/apps/Cargo.toml b/crates/apps/Cargo.toml
index 0f9d0a0873b..c8b8fb6136c 100644
--- a/crates/apps/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/apps/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ keywords.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
 readme.workspace = true
 repository.workspace = true
-version.workspace = true
+version = "0.46.0"
 
 # Namada CLI that aggregates some common commands for the node and the client
 [[bin]]
diff --git a/crates/apps/release.toml b/crates/apps/release.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1534c4c1e9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/apps/release.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+allow-branch               = ["main", "maint-*"]
+consolidate-commits        = true
+pre-release-commit-message = "Namada {{version}}"
+publish                    = false
+push                       = false
+shared-version             = false
+tag                        = false
diff --git a/release.toml b/release.toml
index 632e36bc028..55b34cd88b5 100644
--- a/release.toml
+++ b/release.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 allow-branch               = ["main", "maint-*"]
 consolidate-commits        = true
-pre-release-commit-message = "Namada {{version}}"
+pre-release-commit-message = "Namada libs {{version}}"
 publish                    = false
 push                       = false
 shared-version             = true
diff --git a/scripts/release_bins.sh b/scripts/release_bins.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..c5a6e89dd11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/release_bins.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# depends on cargo-release 0.24.4, git 2.24.0 or later, unclog 0.5.0
+set -e
+
+if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+  echo "please specify a version to release"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+REPO_ROOT=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
+
+if [ "$REPO_ROOT" != "$PWD" ]; then
+  echo "please run from repository root"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+VERSION="$1"
+TAG_NAME="v$1"
+
+# start from a clean build
+git clean -fxd
+
+# update the apps crate versions (1 commit)
+HASH_BEFORE=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+cd $REPO_ROOT/crates/apps
+cargo release version --execute $VERSION
+git commit -am "Namada $VERSION"
+HASH_AFTER=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+
+# update the changelog (1 fixup)
+cd $REPO_ROOT
+unclog release $TAG_NAME
+unclog build > CHANGELOG.md
+git add .changelog CHANGELOG.md
+git commit --fixup=$HASH_AFTER
+
+# show the user the result
+git rebase --interactive --autosquash --keep-base $HASH_BEFORE
+
+echo "final $TAG_NAME commit ready for testing"
+
diff --git a/scripts/release.sh b/scripts/release_libs.sh
similarity index 88%
rename from scripts/release.sh
rename to scripts/release_libs.sh
index 3c12c2c4258..9b509649d94 100755
--- a/scripts/release.sh
+++ b/scripts/release_libs.sh
@@ -15,15 +15,15 @@ if [ "$REPO_ROOT" != "$PWD" ]; then
 fi
 
 VERSION="$1"
-TAG_NAME="v$1"
+TAG_NAME="libs-v$1" # prefixed to distinguish from bins release
 
 # start from a clean build
 git clean -fxd
 
 # update the main workspace crate versions (1 commit)
 HASH_BEFORE=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
-cargo release version --execute $VERSION
-git commit -am "Namada $VERSION"
+cargo release version --exclude namada_apps --execute $VERSION
+git commit -am "Namada libs $VERSION"
 HASH_AFTER=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
 
 # update the wasm workspace crate versions (1 fixup)
diff --git a/wasm/release.toml b/wasm/release.toml
index dbacf2cec36..af34e3c3d6f 100644
--- a/wasm/release.toml
+++ b/wasm/release.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 allow-branch               = ["main", "maint-*"]
 consolidate-commits        = true
-pre-release-commit-message = "fixup! Namada {{version}}"
+pre-release-commit-message = "fixup! Namada libs {{version}}"
 publish                    = false
 push                       = false
 shared-version             = true
diff --git a/wasm_for_tests/release.toml b/wasm_for_tests/release.toml
index 3a264faa088..c60a08039e0 100644
--- a/wasm_for_tests/release.toml
+++ b/wasm_for_tests/release.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 allow-branch = ["main", "maint-*"]
 consolidate-commits = true
-pre-release-commit-message = "fixup! Namada {{version}}"
+pre-release-commit-message = "fixup! Namada libs {{version}}"
 publish = false
 push = false
 shared-version = true