diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b2b12932a..9c4519887 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,20 +1,55 @@
-# Lighthouse 
+# Lighthouse: an Ethereum 2.0-only client 
 
 [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/sigp/lighthouse.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/sigp/lighthouse)
 
-A **work-in-progress** implementation of the Ethereum beacon_chain in Rust.
+A **work-in-progress** implementation of the Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain in Rust.
 
 It is an implementation of the [Full PoS Casper chain
 v2](https://notes.ethereum.org/SCIg8AH5SA-O4C1G1LYZHQ?view) spec and is also
 largely based upon the
 [ethereum/beacon_chain](https://github.com/ethereum/beacon_chain) repo.
 
-Thanks to Parity for their excellent crates (e.g., RLP, ethereum_types).
+**NOTE: the cryptography libraries used in this implementation are very
+experimental and all cryptography should be assumed to be insecure.**
+
+## Motivation
+
+The objective of this project is to build a purely Ethereum 2.0 client from
+the ground up.
+
+As such, the early days of Lighthouse will be very much a research effort -- it
+will be evolving on the bleeding-edge of specification without requiring to
+maintain prod-grade stability or backwards-compatibility for the existing PoW
+chain. 
+
+Whilst the Beacon Chain relies upon the PoW chain for block hashes, Lighthouse
+will need to run alongside an existing client (e.g., Geth, Parity Ethereum),
+only being able to stand by itself once the PoW chain has been deprecated.
+
+Lighthouse aims to assist in advancing the progress of the following Ethereum
+technologies:
+
+ - Proof-of-Stake
+ - Sharding
+ - EVM alternatives (e.g., WASM)
+ - Scalable, topic-based P2P networks (e.g., libp2p-gossipsub) 
+ - Scalable signature schemes (e.g, BLS aggregates)
+
+## Progress
+
+As of 02/08/2018, there is a basic libp2p implementation alongside a series of
+state objects and state transition functions. There are no syncing capabilities.
+
+### Roadmap
+
+ - [ ] Upgrade to the v2.1 spec.
+ - [ ] Implement local storage (e.g., RocksDB, LevelDB).
+ - [ ] Implement a syncing procedure.
+ - [ ] Align to whichever P2P spec is chosen for the Beacon Chain by the EF.
+ - [ ] Provide validation services (participate in consensus)
 
 ## Usage
 
-Presently this is proof-of-concept without p2p or any functionality you'd
-expect from Parity or Geth.
 You can run the tests like this:
 
 ```
@@ -30,9 +65,3 @@ project.
 
 Best place for discussion is probably the [ethereum/sharding
 gitter](https://gitter.im/ethereum/sharding).
-
-## TODO:
-
-- [X] Implement state transitions up-to-par with the Python reference implementation.
-- [ ] Ensure bls library is secure.
-- [ ] Implement aggregate pub keys for BLS.