diff --git a/RELEASES.md b/RELEASES.md
index 20c906673e..acea9528d6 100644
--- a/RELEASES.md
+++ b/RELEASES.md
@@ -12,13 +12,20 @@
 Interchain Security (ICS) follows [semantic versioning](https://semver.org), but with the following deviations (similar to [IBC-Go](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc-go/blob/main/RELEASES.md)):
 
 - A library API breaking change will result in an increase of the MAJOR version number (X.y.z | X > 0). 
-- A state-machine breaking change (change requiring coordinated upgrade and/or state migration for the consumer, the provider, or both) will result in an increase of the MINOR version number (x.Y.z | x > 0).
+- A state-machine breaking change will result in an increase of the MINOR version number (x.Y.z | x > 0).
 - Any other changes (including node API breaking changes) will result in an increase of the PATCH version number (x.y.Z | x > 0).
 
-❗**State compatibility**: It is critical for the patch releases to be state-machine compatible with prior releases in the same minor version. 
-For example, v3.2.1 must be state-machine compatible with v3.2.0.
+> **More context on breaking changes:** 
+> - A change is considered to be _library API breaking_ if it modifies the integration of ICS on either consumer or provider chains (i.e., it changes the way ICS is used as a library). 
+>   Note that bumping the major version of [Cosmos SDK](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk) or [IBC](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc-go) will be considered as a library API breaking change.
+> - A change is considered to be _state-machine breaking_ if it requires a coordinated upgrade and/or state migration for either consumer or provider chains. 
+>   Note that when bumping the dependencies of [Cosmos SDK](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk) and [IBC](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc-go) we will only treat patch releases as non state-machine breaking.
+> - A change is considered to be _node API breaking_ if it modifies the API provided by a node of either consumer or provider chains. 
+>   This includes events, queries, CLI interfaces. 
 
-When bumping the dependencies of [Cosmos SDK](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk) and [IBC](https://github.com/cosmos/ibc-go) we will only treat patch releases as non state-machine breaking.
+❗**State compatibility**: It is critical for the patch releases to be state-machine compatible with prior releases in the same minor version. 
+For example, v3.2.1 must be state-machine compatible with v3.2.0. 
+This is to ensure **determinism**, i.e., given the same input, the nodes will always produce the same output.
 
 ## Release Cycle