Systems and methods for implementing lockless, leaderless transaction protocols for scalable applications such as distributed data stores are disclosed. Applications may be implemented using multiple nodes individually implementing all or a subset of lockless, leaderless protocols. A transaction, such as a write to a data object, may be received at a node, the operation including a user-provided key. A composite key may be generated using a monotonic sequence number, the composite key globally unique across the application. A new data object is created based on data provided and once the object is created, the object is immutable. Other operations are implemented such that no data object may be written, modified, or deleted by more than one operation, thus eliminating contention and allowing for lock-free operation. Leaderless operation, as well as replication using erasure coding and redundant data paths, further minimize latency of the protocol.