Brave supports a "current tracing component" concept which should only be used when you have no other means to get a reference. This was made for JDBC connections, as they often initialize prior to the tracing component.

The most recent tracing component instantiated is available via Tracing.current(). You there’s also a shortcut to get only the tracer via Tracing.currentTracer(). If you use either of these methods, do noot cache the result. Instead, look them up each time you need them.