The article focuses on the problem of transformation of the content of the principles of international private law in the context of digital development of the state, society and economy. The implementation and transformation of the principles of international private law in relation to the main types of cross-border public relations related to digital technologies are studied. It is established that in the context of the development of digital technologies, the most obvious transformation of the principles can be traced precisely in the process of concluding and executing smart contracts. A smart contract does not fit into the traditional criteria for determining either a civil contract or a foreign economic transaction. There is no uniform legal understanding of this phenomenon. It is noted that the content of the norms regulating modern cross-border private law relations related to the use of digital technologies should be built (along with other industry categories) on the basis of the principles of international private law, which, in turn, are transformed in connection with the needs of modern development of digital technologies and correspond to them.