diff --git a/doc/release-process.md b/doc/release-process.md
index 399ed25c91..96a0325084 100644
--- a/doc/release-process.md
+++ b/doc/release-process.md
@@ -1,292 +1,66 @@
-Release Process
-====================
+Bitcoin ABC Release Process
+===========================
 
-Before every release candidate:
 
-* Update translations (ping wumpus on IRC) see [translation_process.md](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/translation_process.md#synchronising-translations).
+## Before Release
 
-* Update manpages, see [gen-manpages.sh](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/contrib/devtools/README.md#gen-manpagessh).
+1. Check configuration
+    - Check features planned for the release are implemented and documented
+       (or more informally, that the Release Manager agrees it is feature complete)
+    - Check that finished tasks / tickets are marked as resolved
 
-Before every minor and major release:
+2. Verify tests passed
+    - any known issues or limitations should be documented in release notes
+    - known bugs should have tickets
+ 
+3. Update the documents / code which needs to be updated every release
+    - Fill in doc/release-notes.md (copy existing one to versioned doc/release-notes/*.md document and update doc/release-notes.md)
+    - Update [bips.md](bips.md) to account for changes since the last release
+    - (major releases) Update [`BLOCK_CHAIN_SIZE`](/src/qt/intro.cpp) to the current size plus some overhead.
+    - Update `src/chainparams.cpp` defaultAssumeValid  with information from the getblockhash rpc.
 
-* Update [bips.md](bips.md) to account for changes since the last release.
-* Update version in sources (see below)
-* Write release notes (see below)
-* Update `src/chainparams.cpp` nMinimumChainWork with information from the getblockchaininfo rpc.
-* Update `src/chainparams.cpp` defaultAssumeValid  with information from the getblockhash rpc.
-  - The selected value must not be orphaned so it may be useful to set the value two blocks back from the tip.
-  - Testnet should be set some tens of thousands back from the tip due to reorgs there.
-  - This update should be reviewed with a reindex-chainstate with assumevalid=0 to catch any defect
-     that causes rejection of blocks in the past history.
 
-Before every major release:
 
-* Update hardcoded [seeds](/contrib/seeds/README.md), see [this pull request](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/7415) for an example.
-* Update [`BLOCK_CHAIN_SIZE`](/src/qt/intro.cpp) to the current size plus some overhead.
 
-### First time / New builders
+      - The selected value must not be orphaned so it may be useful to set the value two blocks back from the tip.
+      - Testnet should be set some tens of thousands back from the tip due to reorgs there.
+      - This update should be reviewed with a reindex-chainstate with assumevalid=0 to catch any defect
+        that causes rejection of blocks in the past history.
 
-If you're using the automated script (found in [contrib/gitian-build.sh](/contrib/gitian-build.sh)), then at this point you should run it with the "--setup" command. Otherwise ignore this.
 
-Check out the source code in the following directory hierarchy.
+4. Increment version number in:
+    - doc/Doxyfile
+    - doc/README.md
+    - doc/release-notes.md
+    - configure.ac
+    - src/test/net_tests.cpp
+    - src/clientversion.h
+    - contrib/gitian-descriptors/*.yml (before a new major release)
 
-    cd /path/to/your/toplevel/build
-    git clone https://github.com/bitcoin-core/gitian.sigs.git
-    git clone https://github.com/bitcoin-core/bitcoin-detached-sigs.git
-    git clone https://github.com/devrandom/gitian-builder.git
-    git clone https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git
+5. Add git tag for release
 
-### Bitcoin maintainers/release engineers, update version in sources
 
-Update the following:
+## Release
+    
+6. Create Gitian Builds (see doc/gitian-building.md), notify PPA buildmaster to start creating Ubuntu PPAs
+    
+7. Verify matching gitian builds, gather signatures
 
-- `configure.ac`:
-    - `_CLIENT_VERSION_MAJOR`
-    - `_CLIENT_VERSION_MINOR`
-    - `_CLIENT_VERSION_REVISION`
-    - Don't forget to set `_CLIENT_VERSION_IS_RELEASE` to `true`
-- `src/clientversion.h`: (this mirrors `configure.ac` - see issue #3539)
-    - `CLIENT_VERSION_MAJOR`
-    - `CLIENT_VERSION_MINOR`
-    - `CLIENT_VERSION_REVISION`
-    - Don't forget to set `CLIENT_VERSION_IS_RELEASE` to `true`
-- `doc/README.md` and `doc/README_windows.txt`
-- `doc/Doxyfile`: `PROJECT_NUMBER` contains the full version
-- `contrib/gitian-descriptors/*.yml`: usually one'd want to do this on master after branching off the release - but be sure to at least do it before a new major release
+8. Upload gitian build to [bitcoinabc.org](https://download.bitcoinabc.org/)
 
-Write release notes. git shortlog helps a lot, for example:
+9. Re-verify the uploads (make sure that downloading them, their checksums are ok)
 
-    git shortlog --no-merges v(current version, e.g. 0.7.2)..v(new version, e.g. 0.8.0)
+10. Create a [GitHub release](https://github.com/Bitcoin-ABC/bitcoin-abc/releases) 
 
-(or ping @wumpus on IRC, he has specific tooling to generate the list of merged pulls
-and sort them into categories based on labels)
 
-Generate list of authors:
+## After Release
 
-    git log --format='%aN' "$*" | sort -ui | sed -e 's/^/- /'
+11. Update version number on www.bitcoinabc.org
 
-Tag version (or release candidate) in git
+12. Publish signed checksums (various places, e.g. blog, reddit/r/BitcoinABC)
 
-    git tag -s v(new version, e.g. 0.8.0)
-
-### Setup and perform Gitian builds
-
-If you're using the automated script (found in [contrib/gitian-build.sh](/contrib/gitian-build.sh)), then at this point you should run it with the "--build" command. Otherwise ignore this.
-
-Setup Gitian descriptors:
-
-    pushd ./bitcoin
-    export SIGNER=(your Gitian key, ie bluematt, sipa, etc)
-    export VERSION=(new version, e.g. 0.8.0)
-    git fetch
-    git checkout v${VERSION}
-    popd
-
-Ensure your gitian.sigs are up-to-date if you wish to gverify your builds against other Gitian signatures.
-
-    pushd ./gitian.sigs
-    git pull
-    popd
-
-Ensure gitian-builder is up-to-date:
-
-    pushd ./gitian-builder
-    git pull
-    popd
-
-### Fetch and create inputs: (first time, or when dependency versions change)
-
-    pushd ./gitian-builder
-    mkdir -p inputs
-    wget -P inputs https://bitcoincore.org/cfields/osslsigncode-Backports-to-1.7.1.patch
-    wget -P inputs http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/osslsigncode/osslsigncode/osslsigncode-1.7.1.tar.gz
-    popd
-
-Create the OS X SDK tarball, see the [OS X readme](README_osx.md) for details, and copy it into the inputs directory.
-
-### Optional: Seed the Gitian sources cache and offline git repositories
-
-By default, Gitian will fetch source files as needed. To cache them ahead of time:
-
-    pushd ./gitian-builder
-    make -C ../bitcoin/depends download SOURCES_PATH=`pwd`/cache/common
-    popd
-
-Only missing files will be fetched, so this is safe to re-run for each build.
-
-NOTE: Offline builds must use the --url flag to ensure Gitian fetches only from local URLs. For example:
-
-    pushd ./gitian-builder
-    ./bin/gbuild --url bitcoin=/path/to/bitcoin,signature=/path/to/sigs {rest of arguments}
-    popd
-
-The gbuild invocations below <b>DO NOT DO THIS</b> by default.
-
-### Build and sign Bitcoin Core for Linux, Windows, and OS X:
-
-    pushd ./gitian-builder
-    ./bin/gbuild --memory 3000 --commit bitcoin=v${VERSION} ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
-    ./bin/gsign --signer $SIGNER --release ${VERSION}-linux --destination ../gitian.sigs/ ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
-    mv build/out/bitcoin-*.tar.gz build/out/src/bitcoin-*.tar.gz ../
-
-    ./bin/gbuild --memory 3000 --commit bitcoin=v${VERSION} ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win.yml
-    ./bin/gsign --signer $SIGNER --release ${VERSION}-win-unsigned --destination ../gitian.sigs/ ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win.yml
-    mv build/out/bitcoin-*-win-unsigned.tar.gz inputs/bitcoin-win-unsigned.tar.gz
-    mv build/out/bitcoin-*.zip build/out/bitcoin-*.exe ../
-
-    ./bin/gbuild --memory 3000 --commit bitcoin=v${VERSION} ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx.yml
-    ./bin/gsign --signer $SIGNER --release ${VERSION}-osx-unsigned --destination ../gitian.sigs/ ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx.yml
-    mv build/out/bitcoin-*-osx-unsigned.tar.gz inputs/bitcoin-osx-unsigned.tar.gz
-    mv build/out/bitcoin-*.tar.gz build/out/bitcoin-*.dmg ../
-    popd
-
-Build output expected:
-
-  1. source tarball (`bitcoin-${VERSION}.tar.gz`)
-  2. linux 32-bit and 64-bit dist tarballs (`bitcoin-${VERSION}-linux[32|64].tar.gz`)
-  3. windows 32-bit and 64-bit unsigned installers and dist zips (`bitcoin-${VERSION}-win[32|64]-setup-unsigned.exe`, `bitcoin-${VERSION}-win[32|64].zip`)
-  4. OS X unsigned installer and dist tarball (`bitcoin-${VERSION}-osx-unsigned.dmg`, `bitcoin-${VERSION}-osx64.tar.gz`)
-  5. Gitian signatures (in `gitian.sigs/${VERSION}-<linux|{win,osx}-unsigned>/(your Gitian key)/`)
-
-### Verify other gitian builders signatures to your own. (Optional)
-
-Add other gitian builders keys to your gpg keyring, and/or refresh keys.
-
-    gpg --import bitcoin/contrib/gitian-keys/*.pgp
-    gpg --refresh-keys
-
-Verify the signatures
-
-    pushd ./gitian-builder
-    ./bin/gverify -v -d ../gitian.sigs/ -r ${VERSION}-linux ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
-    ./bin/gverify -v -d ../gitian.sigs/ -r ${VERSION}-win-unsigned ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win.yml
-    ./bin/gverify -v -d ../gitian.sigs/ -r ${VERSION}-osx-unsigned ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx.yml
-    popd
-
-### Next steps:
-
-Commit your signature to gitian.sigs:
-
-    pushd gitian.sigs
-    git add ${VERSION}-linux/${SIGNER}
-    git add ${VERSION}-win-unsigned/${SIGNER}
-    git add ${VERSION}-osx-unsigned/${SIGNER}
-    git commit -a
-    git push  # Assuming you can push to the gitian.sigs tree
-    popd
-
-Wait for Windows/OS X detached signatures:
-
-- Once the Windows/OS X builds each have 3 matching signatures, they will be signed with their respective release keys.
-- Detached signatures will then be committed to the [bitcoin-detached-sigs](https://github.com/bitcoin-core/bitcoin-detached-sigs) repository, which can be combined with the unsigned apps to create signed binaries.
-
-Create (and optionally verify) the signed OS X binary:
-
-    pushd ./gitian-builder
-    ./bin/gbuild -i --commit signature=v${VERSION} ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx-signer.yml
-    ./bin/gsign --signer $SIGNER --release ${VERSION}-osx-signed --destination ../gitian.sigs/ ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx-signer.yml
-    ./bin/gverify -v -d ../gitian.sigs/ -r ${VERSION}-osx-signed ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx-signer.yml
-    mv build/out/bitcoin-osx-signed.dmg ../bitcoin-${VERSION}-osx.dmg
-    popd
-
-Create (and optionally verify) the signed Windows binaries:
-
-    pushd ./gitian-builder
-    ./bin/gbuild -i --commit signature=v${VERSION} ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win-signer.yml
-    ./bin/gsign --signer $SIGNER --release ${VERSION}-win-signed --destination ../gitian.sigs/ ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win-signer.yml
-    ./bin/gverify -v -d ../gitian.sigs/ -r ${VERSION}-win-signed ../bitcoin/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win-signer.yml
-    mv build/out/bitcoin-*win64-setup.exe ../bitcoin-${VERSION}-win64-setup.exe
-    mv build/out/bitcoin-*win32-setup.exe ../bitcoin-${VERSION}-win32-setup.exe
-    popd
-
-Commit your signature for the signed OS X/Windows binaries:
-
-    pushd gitian.sigs
-    git add ${VERSION}-osx-signed/${SIGNER}
-    git add ${VERSION}-win-signed/${SIGNER}
-    git commit -a
-    git push  # Assuming you can push to the gitian.sigs tree
-    popd
-
-### After 3 or more people have gitian-built and their results match:
-
-- Create `SHA256SUMS.asc` for the builds, and GPG-sign it:
-
-```bash
-sha256sum * > SHA256SUMS
-```
-
-The list of files should be:
-```
-bitcoin-${VERSION}-aarch64-linux-gnu.tar.gz
-bitcoin-${VERSION}-arm-linux-gnueabihf.tar.gz
-bitcoin-${VERSION}-i686-pc-linux-gnu.tar.gz
-bitcoin-${VERSION}-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz
-bitcoin-${VERSION}-osx64.tar.gz
-bitcoin-${VERSION}-osx.dmg
-bitcoin-${VERSION}.tar.gz
-bitcoin-${VERSION}-win32-setup.exe
-bitcoin-${VERSION}-win32.zip
-bitcoin-${VERSION}-win64-setup.exe
-bitcoin-${VERSION}-win64.zip
-```
-The `*-debug*` files generated by the gitian build contain debug symbols
-for troubleshooting by developers. It is assumed that anyone that is interested
-in debugging can run gitian to generate the files for themselves. To avoid
-end-user confusion about which file to pick, as well as save storage
-space *do not upload these to the bitcoin.org server, nor put them in the torrent*.
-
-- GPG-sign it, delete the unsigned file:
-```
-gpg --digest-algo sha256 --clearsign SHA256SUMS # outputs SHA256SUMS.asc
-rm SHA256SUMS
-```
-(the digest algorithm is forced to sha256 to avoid confusion of the `Hash:` header that GPG adds with the SHA256 used for the files)
-Note: check that SHA256SUMS itself doesn't end up in SHA256SUMS, which is a spurious/nonsensical entry.
-
-- Upload zips and installers, as well as `SHA256SUMS.asc` from last step, to the bitcoin.org server
-  into `/var/www/bin/bitcoin-core-${VERSION}`
-
-- A `.torrent` will appear in the directory after a few minutes. Optionally help seed this torrent. To get the `magnet:` URI use:
-```bash
-transmission-show -m <torrent file>
-```
-Insert the magnet URI into the announcement sent to mailing lists. This permits
-people without access to `bitcoin.org` to download the binary distribution.
-Also put it into the `optional_magnetlink:` slot in the YAML file for
-bitcoin.org (see below for bitcoin.org update instructions).
-
-- Update bitcoin.org version
-
-  - First, check to see if the Bitcoin.org maintainers have prepared a
-    release: https://github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org/labels/Releases
-
-      - If they have, it will have previously failed their Travis CI
-        checks because the final release files weren't uploaded.
-        Trigger a Travis CI rebuild---if it passes, merge.
-
-  - If they have not prepared a release, follow the Bitcoin.org release
-    instructions: https://github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org#release-notes
-
-  - After the pull request is merged, the website will automatically show the newest version within 15 minutes, as well
-    as update the OS download links. Ping @saivann/@harding (saivann/harding on Freenode) in case anything goes wrong
-
-- Announce the release:
-
-  - bitcoin-dev and bitcoin-core-dev mailing list
-
-  - Bitcoin Core announcements list https://bitcoincore.org/en/list/announcements/join/
-
-  - bitcoincore.org blog post
-
-  - Update title of #bitcoin on Freenode IRC
-
-  - Optionally twitter, reddit /r/Bitcoin, ... but this will usually sort out itself
-
-  - Notify BlueMatt so that he can start building [the PPAs](https://launchpad.net/~bitcoin/+archive/ubuntu/bitcoin)
-
-  - Archive release notes for the new version to `doc/release-notes/` (branch `master` and branch of the release)
-
-  - Create a [new GitHub release](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/releases/new) with a link to the archived release notes.
-
-  - Celebrate
+13. Announce Release:
+    - [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinABC/)
+    - Twitter @Bitcoin_ABC
+    - Public slack channels friendly to Bitcoin ABC announcements 
+      (eg. #abc-announce on BTCforks,  #hardfork on BTCchat)