Smart contracts in Dollars In last years I have read a lot about "Smart contracts". 

But I cannot understand why we need bitcoin for this?
The old-fashioned US Dollar are not used in Smart Contracts?
I guess it depends on what precisely counts as "self-executing" but escrow transactions are very similar and quite common, particularly in real estate and certain kinds of online transactions.


  An escrow is a deposit of funds, a deed or other instrument by one
  party for the delivery to another party upon completion of a specific
  condition or event. It is an independent neutral account by which the
  interests of all parties to the transaction are protected.


What is Escrow? - Title One