Given the increasing importance of the digital economy, competition for digital technologies and solutions, as well as the contest to influence norms, standards, and regulatory mechanisms, is escalating. This influence is distributed unevenly – digitalization leaders, primarily the key Group of 20 (G20) members, gain significant advantages, increasing their potential for shaping digital regulation through the consistent inclusion of domestic standards and norms in the documents of multilateral institutions, including the G20, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the United Nations (UN) At the same time, Russiaʼs impact on the most important aspects of digital economy regulation at the global and regional level is currently limited.The article presents an assessment of the influence wielded by the leading G20 members (the U.S., Canada, the UK, the European Union (EU), Japan, Korea, China and India) on the digital economyʼs development and regulation. This assessment serves as the basis for recommendations on Russiaʼs approaches to the specific aspects of regulation (digital infrastructure development, cybersecurity, regulating digital platforms, regulating global stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), data governance, and artificial intelligence (AI) policies) at the national level, as well as its engagement in the G20 and other multilateral institutions.The analysis indicates that the leading countries affect the digital economy mainly by determining conditions for activities in their domestic digital markets and participating in shaping new global standards and rules. In the areas of digital infrastructure development, cybersecurity, and data governance, there are growing contradictions between the approaches of the U.S., the UK, Japan and partly the EU and Korea on the one hand, and Russia, China and India on the other. Recommendations in these areas are related to strengthening coordination within the BRICS group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to develop common positions and collectively promote them in the G20 and other multilateral institutions. The main recommendations on other regulatory aspects include using the experience of digitalization leaders to minimize the risks posed by competitors and to strengthen Russian positions in the global digital economy.