diff --git a/.github/workflows/main-build.yml b/.github/workflows/main-build.yml
index 7bf1dea89..ba60c567a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main-build.yml
@@ -13,23 +13,17 @@ jobs:
   build-push-container:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - name: install ignite
-        # TODO_TECHDEBT: upgrade to the latest Ignite (the latest at the moment of creating a note is 0.28). Need to downgrade to fix CI pipelines. Might be done in scope of #240.
-        run: |
-          # curl https://get.ignite.com/cli! | bash
-          wget https://github.com/ignite/cli/releases/download/v28.2.0/ignite_28.2.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz
-          tar -xzf ignite_28.2.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz
-          sudo mv ignite /usr/local/bin/ignite
-          ignite version
-
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
           fetch-depth: "0" # Per https://github.com/ignite/cli/issues/1674#issuecomment-1144619147
 
+      - name: install ignite
+        run: make ignite_install
+
       - name: Set up Go
         uses: actions/setup-go@v4
         with:
-          go-version: "1.21.6"
+          go-version: "1.22.2"
 
       - name: Install CI dependencies
         run: make install_ci_deps
@@ -54,7 +48,7 @@ jobs:
           images: |
             ghcr.io/pokt-network/poktrolld
           tags: |
-            type=ref,event=branch
+            type=ref,event=branch,suffix=-dev
             type=ref,event=pr
             type=sha
             type=sha,format=long
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-artifacts.yml b/.github/workflows/release-artifacts.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..38ddf0e2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-artifacts.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+name: Release artifacts
+
+on:
+  push:
+    tags:
+      - "v*.*.*"
+
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.head_ref || github.ref_name }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  release-artifacts:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: "0" # Per https://github.com/ignite/cli/issues/1674#issuecomment-1144619147
+
+      - name: install ignite
+        run: |
+          make ignite_install
+
+      - name: Set up Go
+        uses: actions/setup-go@v4
+        with:
+          go-version: "1.22.2"
+
+      - name: Install CI dependencies
+        run: make install_ci_deps
+
+      - name: Generate protobufs
+        run: make proto_regen
+
+      - name: Generate mocks
+        run: make go_mockgen
+
+      - name: Build and extract binaries for container build
+        run: |
+          make ignite_update_ldflags
+          make ignite_release
+          make ignite_release_extract_binaries
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+
+      - name: Docker Metadata action
+        id: meta
+        uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
+        env:
+          DOCKER_METADATA_PR_HEAD_SHA: "true"
+        with:
+          images: |
+            ghcr.io/pokt-network/poktrolld
+          tags: |
+            type=semver,pattern={{version}}
+            type=semver,pattern={{major}}.{{minor}}
+            type=ref,event=tag,suffix=-prod
+            type=sha,suffix=-prod
+            type=sha,format=long,suffix=-prod
+
+      - name: Login to GitHub Container Registry
+        uses: docker/login-action@v3
+        with:
+          registry: ghcr.io
+          username: ${{ github.actor }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+
+      - name: Build and push Docker image
+        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
+        with:
+          push: true
+          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
+          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
+          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
+          file: Dockerfile.release
+          cache-from: type=gha
+          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
+          context: .
+
+      # TODO(@okdas): use for releases (also change the "on" part at the top so it only tgirrered for tags/releases)
+      - name: Add release and publish binaries
+        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
+        with:
+          files: |
+            release/*
diff --git a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
index ea7f2edd3..d082af05a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run-tests.yml
@@ -17,23 +17,17 @@ jobs:
   go-test:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - name: install ignite
-        # TODO_TECHDEBT: upgrade to the latest Ignite (the latest at the moment of creating a note is 0.28). Need to downgrade to fix CI pipelines. Might be done in scope of #240.
-        run: |
-          # curl https://get.ignite.com/cli! | bash
-          wget https://github.com/ignite/cli/releases/download/v28.2.0/ignite_28.2.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz
-          tar -xzf ignite_28.2.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz
-          sudo mv ignite /usr/local/bin/ignite
-          ignite version
-
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
           fetch-depth: "0" # Per https://github.com/ignite/cli/issues/1674#issuecomment-1144619147
 
+      - name: install ignite
+        run: make ignite_install
+
       - name: Set up Go
         uses: actions/setup-go@v4
         with:
-          go-version: "1.21.6"
+          go-version: "1.22.2"
 
       - name: Install CI dependencies
         run: make install_ci_deps
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9fa71d3d6..fa84de8b0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ api/poktroll/**/*.go-E
 
 # Relase artifacts produced by `ignite chain build --release`
 release
+release_binaries
 
 # Only keep one go module in our codebase
 go.work.sum
diff --git a/.tool-versions b/.tool-versions
index 9b7a6107e..99b01e2e6 100644
--- a/.tool-versions
+++ b/.tool-versions
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # Run `asdf plugin add golang` and `asdf install` to install the dependencies,
 # and `asdf current` to switch to the versions of dependencies listed below
-golang 1.21.6
-go 1.21.6
+golang 1.22.2
+go 1.22.2
diff --git a/Dockerfile.dev b/Dockerfile.dev
index 4b803af34..89f2e19e1 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.dev
+++ b/Dockerfile.dev
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # This Dockerfile is used to build container image for development purposes.
 # It intentionally contains no security features, ships with code and troubleshooting tools.
 
-FROM golang:1.21.6 as base
+FROM golang:1.22.2 as base
 
 RUN apt update && \
     apt-get install -y \
diff --git a/Dockerfile.release b/Dockerfile.release
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5273a918c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Dockerfile.release
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# This Dockerfile is used to build container image for production workloads.
+# It relies on the binaries produced by `ignite_release` and `ignite_release_extract_binaries` make targets.
+FROM alpine:3.19
+ARG TARGETARCH
+
+# Use `1025` G/UID so users can switch between this and `heighliner` image without a need to chown the files.
+RUN addgroup --gid 1025 -S pocket && adduser --uid 1025 -S pocket -G pocket
+
+COPY --chown=pocket:pocket release_binaries/poktroll_linux_$TARGETARCH /bin/poktrolld
+
+USER pocket
+
+ENTRYPOINT ["poktrolld"]
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a089d57c4..f163e86f1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -26,15 +26,35 @@ PNF_ADDRESS = pokt1eeeksh2tvkh7wzmfrljnhw4wrhs55lcuvmekkw
 
 MODULES := application gateway pocket service session supplier proof tokenomics
 
-# Detect operating system
-OS := $(shell uname -s)
+BRANCH := $(shell git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
+COMMIT := $(shell git log -1 --format='%H')
+
+# don't override user values
+ifeq (,$(VERSION))
+  # Remove 'v' prefix from git tag and assign to VERSION
+  VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags 2>/dev/null | sed 's/^v//')
+  # if VERSION is empty, then populate it with branch's name and raw commit hash
+  ifeq (,$(VERSION))
+    VERSION := $(BRANCH)-$(COMMIT)
+  endif
+endif
+
+# Detect operating system and arch
+OS := $(shell uname -s | tr A-Z a-z)
+ARCH := $(shell uname -m)
+ifeq ($(ARCH),x86_64)
+	ARCH := amd64
+endif
+ifeq ($(ARCH),aarch64)
+	ARCH := arm64
+endif
 
 # Set default commands, will potentially be overridden on macOS
 SED := sed
 GREP := grep
 
 # macOS-specific adjustments
-ifeq ($(OS),Darwin)
+ifeq ($(OS),darwin)
     # Check for gsed and ggrep, suggest installation with Homebrew if not found
     FOUND_GSED := $(shell command -v gsed)
     FOUND_GGREP := $(shell command -v ggrep)
@@ -828,6 +848,42 @@ trigger_ci: ## Trigger the CI pipeline by submitting an empty commit; See https:
 	git commit --allow-empty -m "Empty commit"
 	git push
 
+.PHONY: ignite_install
+ignite_install: ## Install ignite. Used by CI and heighliner.
+	# Determine if sudo is available and use it if it is
+	if command -v sudo &>/dev/null; then \
+		SUDO="sudo"; \
+	else \
+		SUDO=""; \
+	fi; \
+	echo "Downloading Ignite CLI..."; \
+	wget https://github.com/ignite/cli/releases/download/v28.3.0/ignite_28.3.0_$(OS)_$(ARCH).tar.gz; \
+	echo "Extracting Ignite CLI..."; \
+	tar -xzf ignite_28.3.0_$(OS)_$(ARCH).tar.gz; \
+	echo "Moving Ignite CLI to /usr/local/bin..."; \
+	$$SUDO mv ignite /usr/local/bin/ignite; \
+	echo "Cleaning up..."; \
+	rm ignite_28.3.0_$(OS)_$(ARCH).tar.gz; \
+	ignite version
+
+.PHONY: ignite_update_ldflags
+ignite_update_ldflags:
+	yq eval '.build.ldflags = ["-X main.Version=$(VERSION)", "-X main.Date=$(shell date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"]' -i config.yml
+
+.PHONY: ignite_release
+ignite_release: ## Builds production binaries
+	ignite chain build --release -t linux:amd64 -t linux:arm64 -t darwin:amd64 -t darwin:arm64
+
+.PHONY: ignite_release_extract_binaries
+ignite_release_extract_binaries: ## Extracts binaries from the release archives
+	mkdir -p release_binaries
+
+	for archive in release/*.tar.gz; do \
+		binary_name=$$(basename "$$archive" .tar.gz); \
+		tar -zxvf "$$archive" -C release_binaries "poktrolld"; \
+		mv release_binaries/poktrolld "release_binaries/$$binary_name"; \
+	done
+
 #####################
 ### Documentation ###
 #####################
diff --git a/Tiltfile b/Tiltfile
index 5d8cca35b..12b657473 100644
--- a/Tiltfile
+++ b/Tiltfile
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ local_resource(
 docker_build_with_restart(
     "poktrolld",
     ".",
-    dockerfile_contents="""FROM golang:1.21.6
+    dockerfile_contents="""FROM golang:1.22.2
 RUN apt-get -q update && apt-get install -qyy curl jq less
 RUN go install github.com/go-delve/delve/cmd/dlv@latest
 COPY bin/poktrolld /usr/local/bin/poktrolld
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 23c6c27f9..b028d2537 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 module github.com/pokt-network/poktroll
 
-go 1.21.1
-
-toolchain go1.21.6
+go 1.22.2
 
 replace (
 	// fix upstream GHSA-h395-qcrw-5vmq vulnerability.