What is Ethereum? Influence of it on cryptocurrency

What is Ethereum? Influence of it on cryptocurrency-
Ethereum is a platform whose currency is called Ether. Ether can be transferred between accounts and can also be used to compensate participating mining nodes for the computations performed. Ethereum is a decentralized platform which executes scripts using an international network of public nodes. Ethereum was proposed by Vitalik Buterin in the late 2013 and development was funded by an online crowdsale. The system went live on 30 July, 2015. Critics of Ethereum point out that it is used to run ponzi schemes and other frauds by criminals. But Ethereum has garnered massive popularity and it's value has grown by over 13000 percent.