diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c3b1462..3bdc988 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,15 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [2.7.1] - 2026-05-14
+
+### Changed
+- **PoP default badge mode**: `connect()` now attempts Proof-of-Possession (IAL-1) badge first, with transparent fallback to CA-issued (IAL-0) badges (#69)
+
+### Fixed
+- Pass `private_key_path` through to badge keeper RPC start call (#69)
+- Fix `__version__` in `__init__.py` (was stale at "2.6.0")
+
 ## [2.7.0] - 2026-05-13
 
 ### Added
@@ -355,4 +364,3 @@ order = create_dv_order(domain="example.com", challenge_type="http-01", jwk=jwk)
 [0.3.1]: https://github.com/capiscio/capiscio-sdk-python/releases/tag/v0.3.1
 [0.3.0]: https://github.com/capiscio/capiscio-sdk-python/releases/tag/v0.3.0
 [0.1.0]: https://github.com/capiscio/capiscio-sdk-python/releases/tag/v0.1.0
-
diff --git a/capiscio_sdk/__init__.py b/capiscio_sdk/__init__.py
index 1a154f2..3f1d190 100644
--- a/capiscio_sdk/__init__.py
+++ b/capiscio_sdk/__init__.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
     >>> result = validate_agent_card(card_dict)  # Uses Go core
 """
 
-__version__ = "2.6.0"
+__version__ = "2.7.1"
 
 # Core exports
 from .executor import CapiscioSecurityExecutor, secure, secure_agent
@@ -151,4 +151,3 @@
     "DECISION_DENY",
     "DECISION_OBSERVE",
 ]
-
diff --git a/capiscio_sdk/_rpc/process.py b/capiscio_sdk/_rpc/process.py
index d7ed1dd..01315a7 100644
--- a/capiscio_sdk/_rpc/process.py
+++ b/capiscio_sdk/_rpc/process.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ def _cleanup_stale_sockets() -> None:
         pass
 
 # Binary download configuration
-CORE_VERSION = "2.7.0"
+CORE_VERSION = "2.7.1"
 GITHUB_REPO = "capiscio/capiscio-core"
 CACHE_DIR = DEFAULT_SOCKET_DIR / "bin"
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 41171d5..292899c 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "capiscio-sdk"
-version = "2.7.0"
+version = "2.7.1"
 description = "Runtime security middleware for A2A agents"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.10"