Analysis of the main challenges and threats arising in the Russian economy in connection with the intrusion of digital technologies is the purpose of this paper. The main trend is the activity of state structures, which brings external benefits to private agents due to the growth of public expenditures and public investment. First of all, those external benefits are associated with the growing ability of agents to reduce transaction costs. The threats associated with the delay of institutional transformations, the lack of infrastructure development, the growth of digital inequality, which in the modern Russian conditions deepen interregional differentiation, are identified. Particular attention is paid to changing the role of the government, which provides effective tools for solving the problem of a naive investor.