Meta files to dismiss the FTC’s attempt to block its acquisition of Within, arguing the FTC’s claims rely on “pure speculation of a hypothetical future state” (Ashley Gold/Axios)

Leah Nylen / Bloomberg:
Filing: in its case against Meta’s Within acquisition, FTC asks a judge to remove some allegations about anticompetitive effects in the VR fitness apps market  —  The US Federal Trade Commission is narrowing its case against Meta Platforms Inc.’s proposed acquisition of virtual reality app Within Unlimited, according to a court filing.

New York Times:
Mark Zuckerberg testified in federal court about Meta’s acquisition of Within, as the FTC’s highly unusual challenge seeks an injunction to stop the deal  —  Meta’s chief executive made a rare court appearance as the Federal Trade Commission tries to block his company’s purchase of the virtual reality start-up Within.

Ismail Shakil / Reuters:
Court filing: Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, Within CEO Chris Milk, and others to testify in the FTC case against Meta’s acquisition of Within  —  Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg will testify in a case by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) …

Dan Primack / Axios:
Instacart is pulling its plans to go public in 2022; the company confidentially filed for an IPO earlier this year  —  Grocery delivery app Instacart has decided to push its highly anticipated IPO into 2023, believing the current stock market is too volatile, as first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by Axios.

Han Chen / Axios:
Report: US state and local governments kept buying Chinese telecom equipment despite a federal-level ban; only five states have rules to limit such purchases  —  Despite federal efforts to block Chinese telecom equipment from U.S. supply chains, state and local governments across …

Nelson Wang / CoinDesk:
The CFTC has fined the blockchain protocol bZeroX team $250K and filed an action against its successor Ooki Dao for offering illegal off-exchange crypto trading  —  The commission said bZeroX offered illegal, off-exchange trading of digital assets, and has also filed a civil action against the Ooki Dao.